SWAT was created for monumental situations. I would accept SWAT at a riot with looting. That’s what its for. But this guy who wrote the article has his head up his arse for the most part.
The cops do use this stuff on a daily basis and and they misuse it on a daily basis. Its caused a sea change in their attitude toward the public also. Now they view themselves as warriors not public servants. Prime example is the cops willy nilly arresting and tear gassing the legitimatge media who were lawfully covering the event. Its gotten way out of hand.
How I learned to love the riot: 'rats destroy their own nests. It would be better to deploy a containment fence and riot recording robots that uplink high resolution video, sound, and Obamaphone pings/texts/voice. Revenge is best served cold. Looting is bad, and really bad for Democrats, but not by itself a rooftop sniper executable offense.