65 percent of towns with populations between 25,000 and 50,000 had a paramilitary unit,One of those is mine. Our pop is 32.000 (maybe 35K now ) and we have a SWAT Unit. The only *problem* is we don't have any violent crime.
The last murder was 3 years ago. Committed by one of the Amish guys from Chicago who was visiting his 'girlfriend' in one of the Section Eight apartment complexes on the south side of town (we have 3 around there iirc). He was captured by old fashioned police work - fingerprints' - in three days 'hiding out' in Chicago at his mother's house, Doh!.
Our biggest Crime Problem is some a-holes who are breaking car windows and stealing stuff in plain view on the car seat. Those crimes are centralized in two areas and a GD stakeout could prolly catch the mutts. NO SWAT TEAM NEEDED.
Yet we have one
(I bet their Pinochle and Gin Rummy skills have increased x 106).
There is a sick symbiotic relationship between the federal law enforcement agencies and local police dept.
The feds shovel “war on drugs” and “war on terror” funding at the local PDs, and get them hooked on this stream of money and equipment.
In return, the local SWAT serves as a force multiplier for the FLEAs when they need extra muscle in that jurisdiction. In this way, just a small squad of feds can call on the services of a much bigger local SWAT team when they want to conduct a raid in force.
It’s how the USA is evolving a “virtual national police force,” something our founding fathers dreaded.