A relative of mine is on the SWAT unit of another Colorado police agency; he went into the line of work an uncle of mine was in and I went to the military side instead. But he paid some very close professional attention to the methods of the responding units, and was not then nor later has he been impressed. *Cowards* was just one of his conclusions.
Based on the outcome, hard to disagree. Surprising in that the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department was a pretty good department then, and still is I suppose. Not sure who was running the show that day, but they were initially. The Sheriff ended up drinking and not running again because of the fallout.