Pubdate: Sat, 18 Aug 2001
Source: Capital Times, The  (WI)
Copyright: 2001 The Capital Times
Contact:  http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/73
Author: Steven Elbow

AT THEIR BEST, SWATS RESCUE VICTIMS AND SAVE LIVES

Few people deny that highly trained paramilitary police squads are 
essential in the event of domestic terrorism or crazed gunmen.

"You damn well better have a team in place to handle those situations," 
says criminologist Peter Kraska, an authority on SWAT teams.

Indeed, while SWAT team mishaps make the headlines, there are plenty of 
instances in which teams nabbed a dangerous subject, provided backup, 
defused a dangerous situation or stood in position - just in case the worst 
happened.

For example:

On July 2, 2000, the Columbia County emergency response team aided in 
apprehending Thomas Kowalski Sr., who took his wife hostage at a Wisconsin 
Dells campground after killing her boyfriend and shooting another man.

On Oct. 18, 1999, the Muskego SWAT team was called to disarm a reportedly 
drunken man who began to fire rounds from his 20-gauge shotgun inside his 
apartment. The SWAT team fired chemical irritants into the apartment and 
took the suspect, 31-year-old Frank Falkner, into custody.

On May 28, 1996, at a Burger King outside Green Bay, 20-year-old Matthew 
Baumann held a female assistant manager at gunpoint during a 16-hour 
standoff. Baumann eventually surrendered. Brown County officials credited 
the county SWAT team with the peaceful resolution.

In Madison, "barricaded subjects" have prompted police officials to field 
the entire emergency response team four times in the past four years, 
according to Madison police Capt. Jeff LaMar.

On July 28, 1999, 39-year-old Sylvester Phillips, wanted on a parole 
violation, surrendered after a seven-hour standoff when emergency response 
team officers shot tear gas into his Ellen Drive home. Phillips told police 
he was not going back to jail and asked them to shoot him.

On May 28, 1998, police closed off a downtown neighborhood in Iota Court 
after 31-year-old Ty Schissel threatened to set off explosives. Schissel, 
who was wanted for beating and threatening his ex-girlfriend and their 
3-year-old son, surrendered after several hours.

On Jan. 21, 1997, Steve Post, a 19-year-old armed jail escapee, held police 
at bay for several hours at the east side Select Inn motel in a 15-hour 
standoff during which Post fired a gunshot in his room. He eventually 
surrendered peacefully.

On March 29, 1997, 23-year-old John Henry High surrendered after 
barricading himself for hours in his Schroeder Road apartment. Police 
converged on the apartment house after receiving reports that High had 
fired shots at two women with whom he'd had an argument.

A smaller contingent is called out roughly "a couple dozen times a year" 
for dynamic entry situations, including drug searches, LaMar said.

For instance, last Jan. 4, emergency response team officers raided an 
apartment at 123 E. Johnson St. to arrest three people suspected in a 
series of violent home invasions. The team came under scrutiny for that 
incident because an 18-year-old suspect was burned when the officers fired 
a diversionary "flash-bang" grenade in the apartment.

LaMar said small-town police departments could face similar situations, so 
there's some logic in those departments fielding SWAT teams, if they keep 
them properly trained.

"If they equip those people and train them as a team, they are frequently 
more suited to handle these situations than a regular police officer," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom