The Texas Tower, Pt 3: Lessons Learned & Response Changes

Although it’s been said before, it’s worth repeating any time we examine law enforcement response protocols: The Texas Tower incident occurred in the midst of extreme societal change in America and near the beginning of a new trend in law enforcement capabilities: that of developing special response teams commonly referred to as S.W.A.T.

Some law enforcement historians record Philadelphia as having the first active special operations team in 1964.  Others recognize west coast cities as having developed them first, but mark the dates as later in the 1960s; typically 1966 or 1967.  No matter which city you choose to recognize as having the first special operations team, there’s little doubt that more has been written about the Los Angeles Special Weapons And Tactics team than any other in the country.  That’s likely due to the strength of Hollywood and all of the movies / television series portrayals of SWAT officers or teams from Los Angeles.  The acronym itself, SWAT, is credited to Los Angeles where it was originally suggested to stand for Special Weapons Assault Teams, but feeling that such was too aggressive sounding, it was changed to Special Weapons And Tactics.  Across the nation you can find such teams with acronyms ranging from SWAT to EST (Emergency Services Team), ERT (Emergency Response Team), SOT (Special Operations Team) and more.  They all have one thing in common: they’re the people who get called when the patrol officers feel like the situation is going to require response capabilities beyond what they are trained and equipped for.

- - - - - - - - - -

The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.