Battering rams, military armored vehicles and the use of SWAT teams by law enforcement has the American Civil Liberties Union up in arms.

Battering rams, military armored vehicles and the use of SWAT teams by law enforcement has the American Civil Liberties Union up in arms.



The civil rights organization has raised concerns over how military hardware and technology have seeped into day-to-day policing. But law enforcement in the Poconos say the ACLU is way off base.



"I looked at the ACLU survey, and it left me with more questions than answers," said Bob Werts, program manager of the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force. "It's very important to note that the courts have consistently agreed that law enforcement does not have to have less of ability than criminals do."

In a recent study, the ACLU estimated that there are 45,000 SWAT raids in the United States each year.



"That means this sort of violent, paramilitary raid is happening in about 124 homes every day, or more likely every night, not in an overseas combat zone, but here in American neighborhoods," said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for the ACLU's Center for Justice. "The police, who are supposed to serve and protect communities, are instead waging war on the people who live in them."



The ACLU's new report, "War at Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing," looked at 800 of the raids Dansky spoke of and what state and local law enforcement agencies are willing to divulge, she said.



"We found that almost 80 percent of SWAT raids are to search homes, usually for drugs, and disproportionately, in communities of color. During these drug searches, at least 10 officers often piled into armored personnel carriers," Dansky said.



"They forced their way into people's homes using military equipment like battering rams 60 percent of the time. And they were 14 times more likely to deploy flash-bang grenades than during SWAT raids for other purposes."



Approximately 79 percent involved raids on private homes. By contrast, only about 7 percent fell into those categories for which the technique was originally intended, such as hostage situations or barricades, according to ACLU officials.

Backing the ACLU's report, the Center for Investigative Reporting said since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, $34 billion in grants from the Department of Homeland Security were allocated to states to procure military-grade weapons and other security defenses.



The CIR said it found through records from 41 states and interviews with more than two dozen current and former police officials and terrorism experts that police departments around the U.S. have transformed into small army-like forces.



Still, law enforcement officials in the Poconos said they haven't used grenades or stockpiled any military-style weapons, and their SWAT teams are used only when absolutely necessary.



"There have been no changes with the exception of about six or seven years ago, when we received a Vietnam-era armored personnel carrier," said Capt. Brian Kimmins of Stroud Area Regional Police. "We've refurbished it, and we use it when there's a victim or an officer down and we can drive to an area where there's gunfire."



The captain said certain tools such as stun guns are effective and "we'd be foolish not to capitalize on that."



Among other benefits, stun guns help to greatly reduce injuries to police officers and, as a result, there hasn't been much lost time due to injury.



"When I first started out, we didn't even have pepper spray," Kimmins said. "Now, with tasers, no one has gone out."

Officials with Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, which serves several communities including Tobyhanna and Mount Pocono, said their SWAT team was formed in 1996 and consists of 19 highly trained officers, who've worked with the FBI, state police and the U.S. Secret Service, among other agencies.



The PMRPD SWAT team is trained in the employment of explosive devices, automatic and semi-automatic weapons, long-range scoped rifles, gas munitions and platforms, less lethal munitions, electronic surveillance equipment and specialized team tactics.



PMRPD acquired a Lenco Bearcat armored rescue vehicle in 2011. The 9-ton vehicle, which cost $287,000, was secured through a Homeland Security grant. When it was introduced, officials said it would be used for manmade disasters, standoffs and other unstable situations.



Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman Maria Finn said troopers don't use military-style weapons or tactics.



"The military's 1033 surplus program may be a good option for some, but at this point the Pennsylvania State Police do not utilize equipment from this program."



Monroe County Sheriff Todd Martin said his department also doesn't have or use military-style equipment and tactics.

Mark Lomax, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association in Doylestown, defended the use of military equipment in local policing.



Lomax said the ACLU's report doesn't detail or discuss the overwhelming, vast majority of police situations and responses that occur each day.



"Every day in which tactical equipment and vehicles are either purchased or obtained from the government, it's saved lives, both civilian and law enforcement," he said. "Whether it is a response to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, domestic terrorism such as the Sept. 11 terror attacks or the Boston marathon bombing, or an active shooter situation like Newtown or Aurora, the equipment provided by the government, such as generators, boats, rescue equipment and surveillance equipment, have saved lives and minimized the loss of life."



Further, the tactics and equipment used by the vast majority of SWAT or tactical teams, when needed, are in direct response to the criminal element law enforcement is confronted with, Lomax said.



Still, the ACLU contends that public support for the War on Drugs is at its lowest ever, and yet it says police are still using hyper-aggressive tactics and heavy artillery to fight it.



The organization said that the paramilitary approach to everyday policing brutalizes bystanders and ravages homes.



However, Werts of the Northeast Regional Counterterrorism Task Force argues that the ACLU is making a mountain out of a molehill.



Werts said most police agencies have kept pace with what they have to encounter in enforcing the law.



"You are legally allowed to have greater force as a law enforcement officer than those criminals that you're going to attempt to arrest," he said. "I feel sorry for the community once that changes."