Police SWAT Teams acting badly.

"Sal Culosi is dead because he bet on a football game — but it wasn’t a bookie or a loan shark who killed him. His local government killed him, ostensibly to protect him from his gambling habit."

The militarization of the police is getting out of hand.  And it brings up the old adage, once you have it, you have to justify it.  SWAT teams are being used to serve warrants for simple misdemeanors instead of the high risk entry's for real violent criminals.

The police now that they have spent all the money on weapons, equipment and training, must justify that expense by using the teams for anything and everything.  It also strokes the egos of the officers involved, that they get to dress up like a ninja and carry a full auto firearms, kick in doors and hold the power of life and death in their hands.

What happened to the idea of law enforcement being "Peace" officers?  Their job was to maintain the peace and hold scofflaws accountable for their actions.

When I was a kid growing up in St. Louis, there were only 4 SWAT teams in the entire state.

Missouri State Highway Patrol

St. Louis City Police

St. Louis County Police

Kansas City Police

Those were it.

Now in St. Louis County there are 15 different municipalities that I am aware of that have their own SWAT teams.

Why?

Just so their officers can live vicariously?

We need to go back to "Peace" Officers.