Even Justified SWAT Raids Can Be Deadly

Many readers have probably already read about the tragic death of Aiyana Jones, who was killed when a member of the Detroit SWAT team accidentally shot her while conducting a raid on her home. The police in this case were looking for a murder suspect whom they found in the apartment, which seems like an appropriate use of a SWAT team to me. There is good reason to think that a murderer might try to resist police with violent tactics, after all. Still, the case underlines the reason that SWAT teams should only be used when absolutely necessary. Accidents do happen and people can get killed, so unless there is good reason to think that the suspect will react with potentially lethal violence, we should avoid that risk.