Originally posted by a cop from officer.com
How to serve a warrant in 1972:
1) The warrant officer at your station gives you a warrant for someone who lives on your beat. Its for an old drug possession beef. The suspect has no criminal history. Ho-hum.
2) You go to the location. You knock on the door. If no one answers, you leave and come back another time. If your man answers the door, you either arrest him or cite him to court. If you know hes there (TV is on, curtains move as he peeks out the window at you, etc.) but he wont answer the door, you call another car to watch the back while you go in the front and get him. If he submits, fine. If he resists you thump him (tasers are years in the future). If he goes for a weapon you shoot him.
Fairly simple, no?
How to serve a warrant today:
1) The warrant officer at your station gives you a warrant for someone who lives on your beat. Its for an old drug possession beef. The suspect has no criminal history. Drug possession! This guy is obviously a degenerate, and threatens the very fabric of civilization! Theres no time to lose!
2) You and your pals put on black ninja outfits. You put black bags over your heads with little slits for your eyes. Now you can do anything you want and no one can identify you afterwards. Hey, it works for the PLO and the IRA, right? You call all of the schools within a fifty mile radius and tell them to go on lockdown.
3) You ride to the scene in an armored personnel carrier (yes, I said an armored personnel carrier!).
4) When you arrive, you jump out and storm the house, bristling with weapons that were, at one time, only used on foreign battlefields to engage implacable enemies of the United States and its interests. Now theyre used against this countrys civilian population.
5) The familys elderly Labrador, who is now approaching you, tail wagging, is obviously there to guard the drug kingpins stash, and presents a grave danger to law enforcement personnel. Hose him with your M-16, or MP5, or whatever squirt gun your agency issues. That way the neighbors will see what a baaaaadass you are.
6) Dont knock on the door
thats for sissies. Take it down with a battering ram. Run in and cuss a lot, like they do in those cool movies. Prone everybody out on the floor. When the familys other dog gets excited and starts barking, blow him away like you did the other one. Do it in front of the kids. That way theyll learn that this countrys laws must be respected!
7) There are lots of news cameras outside because you called them ahead of time and told them to be there. March your prisoner out and look really grim. Now everyone watching the news can see your armored personnel carrier (yes, I said ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER!) and they can see how awesome you are in your Ninja outfit.
8) Make sure your department spokesman is there to give an exciting account of your great victory. That way the pretty girl with too much hair mousse can do a BREAKING NEWS story about how youve struck a stunning blow to the international drug trade.
Now, there are people who are going to think Im being facetious here. Im not.
Since the early 80s, the use of SWAT teams in civilian law enforcement has increased about 1500%. No, those two zeros are not a typo. At least FORTY completely innocent American citizens have been shot to death by rogue police, either because incompetent law enforcement officials hit the wrong address, or because startled homeowners attempted to defend themselves against the masked strangers violently entering their homes and were gunned down. One of them, Kathryn Johnston of Atlanta, was 92 years old.