“Thank you riverrunner, it took a full 10 minutes for an answer to a stupid question.”
Thats far from a stupid question and the fact that you don’t even realize what you are endorsing is quite scary.
When the military acts as a nations police force that nation is not free. The only difference between the military and SWAT teams is the spelling of their name. Oh and the military usually has tighter restrictions on the use of force.
I don't know what you base that statement on.
From the stats stated in this article I would say it reflects a great deal of restraint by SWAT in LA, mainly because of gang activity and the sheer number of nut cases in a large population.
I see nothing particularly scary about the government being able to focus a lot of power against a particular individual, especially in things like hostage situations. What is scary is not the ability of 'real' SWAT teams to focus and apply such force, but rather the proliferation of pseudo-SWAT teams.
Freedom does not require that every individual be able to withstand all the forces of government combined. Freedom requires merely that the government not be able to overpower more than a certain critical mass of people.