This was sent by an anonymous friend in response to an LA Times editorial on SWAT and affirmative action:

I am a police supervisor in Southern California. I have been in law enforcement for over twenty five years. I am female.

In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Opinion section, Robert C. J. Parry, exposes the results of a board of inquiry commissioned by Chief of Police Bill Bratton to look into the only hostage death in LAPD SWAT’s 35 year history.

“When Pena retreated to his office, four SWAT officers crossed the alley in a matter of seconds, entered the building, took fire through the walls — fire that struck one officer — and entered Pena’s office. There, they exchanged more shots with the gunman, who was standing behind a desk with Suzie. In the chaos, both Jose and Suzie Pena were killed.

It is important, in the aftermath of this kind of tragedy to review the actions of the involved officers for ways to improve tactics, etc and try to prevent a recurrence and that was the chief’s stated goal in this inquiry. Unfortunately, that is not what he told his team.

“In November 2005, he (Chief Bratton) privately addressed the board about his goals for their inquiry. The final report quotes him: “I’m looking to create change within SWAT. The qualifications to get in are stringent. But are they too stringent? There are no women and few African Americans…. Are there artificial barriers for getting into SWAT that the ‘good old boys’ network has maintained?”

Chief Bratton it seems, along with his review team, believe that SWAT needs to be more diverse in it’s membership. The Chief appointed a review board that seemed to reflect this agenda:

“None of the SWAT officers from the Pena shooting were even interviewed by the panel, according to multiple sources. Indeed, the board’s eight members included fewer tactical experts (one) than attorneys (three). In its final report, the board acknowledged that it had been “ultimately precluded from gaining a full and complete understanding of what transpired in Pena until after this report was finalized.”

The final report expresses the following:

“The absence of women … and the low number of African Americans in SWAT should be addressed and dealt with, and the membership of SWAT should be reflective of the community,” the report says, although it offers no qualitative or quantitative evidence that this change would save a single life or lead to a single suspect’s apprehension. The unit, the report says, has become “insular, self-referential and resistant to change.”

As a veteran law enforcement officer/supervisor and a woman, I have a couple of things to say about this that may be relevant.

Let me preface this with some history. When I first applied for a job in my profession, the department, I for which I ultimately worked, did not recognize the affirmative action policies that were practiced elsewhere in the county. The physical agility test included the 6′ solid wall, you had to move 165 pounds of dead weight a certain distance under time and push a car in addition to running fast through an obstacle course. After acing the physical agility, and doing well in the written and oral exams, my sister and I were told that we were in line for jobs “when a female position came open.” We were eventually hired, came in first and third in our academy, which included rigorous physical training and moved on to successful careers.

I have, on occasion, in my career been the beneficiary of affirmative action policies. The ethical trade off for this has been to make sure that I am overqualified for advancement or assignments that I seek. That way I am comfortable that I didn’t ace out someone more qualified for the position for the sake of greater diversity. I also recognize that on occasion, these policies have leveled the playing field appropriately.

Since I came into this job there has been a consistent lowering of standards in misguided attempts to add diversity to policing and the results have been at best, mixed. First of all, if you fall into one of the favored categories, you have the unique pleasure of knowing that when you enter the job you are already stigmatized as below par because the rules were changed to get you in. You’re partners will wonder if they need help on the other side of a wall you didn’t have to climb to get the job, whether you can get to them. It has also resulted in some seriously substandard hires. Rafael Perez comes to mind.

The first and most important thing a person should understand when entering a “risk” profession such as mine is their personal limitations. Failure to understand this basic rule endangers you and others from the beginning. I am a member of the rifle team and have served as a firearms instructor. However, I have not and would not apply to be a motor officer or a SWAT officer because I am too small. I know you cannot hand me the ram to take down the front door. I recognize if the motorcycle goes down, I might have trouble picking it up again. It might take me longer to get one of my partners out of the line of fire after he gets shot upon entry, when time is of the essence.

That is not to say that I don’t belong in my job. I am good at it and have seen officers of all sizes, shapes, genders and colors perform the job with skill and heart. Because I recognize my limitations, I can plan to overcome them tactically in the situations I encounter. SWAT does not have this luxury. SWAT is who I call when the situation overwhelms my immediate resources. If I need them, I don’t give a damn if they are “reflective of the community” or six toed farm boys with acne, I just want them to be the best. Only the most physically capable, tactically gifted, expert shooters, with a proven ability to perform for the good of the team and the innocent victims in immediate need of their services should qualify for SWAT. If some of those super qualified candidates happen to be female, terrific, but I cannot understand, for the life of me what benefit is reached for officer or public safety by lowering standards and tweaking the process to increase the numbers of minorities and women qualifying for this unique and vital function. Chief Bratton’s transparent attempt to court certain groups in this and other situations indicates a troubling willingness to endanger lives in pursuit of his personal ambitions.