The Rise of the Gendarmerie in America

So what is a gendarmerie other than a difficult to pronounce French word? Gendarmeries are military units with the authority to enforce civilian laws. The existence of such units though begs the question as to why they're necessary because the countries where they exist also have civilian police forces. Why are military units with all the powers, equipment, training and tactics that such units use needed to enforce civilian laws?

Italian Gendarmeries

Enter SWAT teams. SWAT is an acronym means Special Weapons And Tactics. For all intents and purposes, SWAT teams are gendarmeries. They're equipped with military equipment. They're trained in military tactics. They respond like they're about to fight a battle.

University of Tennessee law professor and blogger Glenn Reynolds had this to say about SWAT teams in a 2009 article in Popular Mechanics:

This approach, though, has led to problems both obvious and subtle. The obvious problem should be especially apparent to readers of this magazine: Once you've got a cool tool, you kind of want to use it. That's true whether it's a pneumatic drill, a laser level or an armored fighting vehicle. SWAT teams, designed to deal with rare events, wound up doing routine police work, like serving drug warrants.

The subtle effect is also real: Dress like a soldier and you think you're at war. And, in wartime, civil liberties--or possible innocence--of the people on "the other side" don't come up much. But the police aren't at war with the citizens they serve, or at least they're not supposed to be.

The combination of these two factors has led to some tragic mistakes: "no knock" drug raids, involving "dynamic entry," where the wrong house has been targeted or where the raid was based on informants' tips that turned out to be just plain wrong.

Do we really need to treat the investigation of crimes and the enforcement of laws that have been on the books for 100 years or more as if they're a strategic objection on a battlefield?

American SWAT Officers