The fact that towns with 40k residents now have SWAT teams....ought to worry about the necessity of such tactics in small-town America.
The Death Squad mentality is infectious, even the Austin fire department has come down with disease of violence in that they now have units that seem to have nothing to do with their primary mission.
The other day, I saw the fire department's "Regional Strike Force" tactical unit out as the wanna-be goons were out conducting drills. Towed behind the Assault Truck was a Zodiac inflatable. I'm cool with that since I can see water rescues as one of their legitimate roles - but this Zodiac is different. It was flat black, no reflective markings on it. Now why in heck would a fire department rescue unit have a inflatable boat in tactical black? Is this so they can sneak up stealthily upon a drowning victim?
Recently I was passed on the road by another Fire Department vehicle marked "Special Operations Battalion". Really? We need a SPEC-OPS team that of all terms to define themselves originates from the military - "battalion" ? How does this work out? Someone calls in a heart attack and SPEC-OPS comes out, swarms the "compound" and shoots the vic? How are the original JBTs going to take this when they have competition in dealing out violence to citizens? Is this a tax-payer underwritten version of Bloods vs Crips?
I don't recognize this country anymore - even the Fire Department wants to have a hyper-violent Rambo image.
I live in a small town. The fire marshal carries a Glock on his hip for some reason.