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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane’s SWAT unit renaming met with skepticism

In Spokane, SWAT is no more.

The police department has rebranded the decades-old team of officers trained in tactical response as the “Emergency Response Unit,” as it seeks to broaden the skills of team members. Assistant Chief Rick Dobrow, who leads the department’s operations, said the switch reflects the increased training in medical rescue and crisis management former SWAT team members will receive in the coming months.

“We wanted to create a team that’s really equal to the demands of our community,” Dobrow said in an interview this week.

The name change was announced at a news conference Sept. 11, and Dobrow has briefed City Council members on the reason for the change. Mike Fagan, a councilman and former criminal investigator in the Army, is skeptical of the change but says he won’t “micro-manage” the police department.

“My initial thought, when I saw the press release go out, was, ‘Oh my word, are we getting politically correct now?’ ” Fagan said.

Council President Ben Stuckart said the reasons he’s heard for the name change are unconvincing, but it “doesn’t raise huge concerns” for him.

At a recent Public Safety Committee meeting, Stuckart questioned Dobrow on the need for a name change. Dobrow said the team would receive additional training in water rescue.

Last week, Brian Coddington, the mayor’s spokesman, said the name change reflected the law enforcement team’s effort to refocus on “saving lives.”

Stuckart said he’s never heard that local water rescue, done by the Fire Department, was lacking.

“Everything seems the same. It’s just a name change,” he said. “You could’ve changed uniforms and the militarization and kept the name the same.”

Dobrow said the name change is more than just window dressing. The 30 or so former SWAT officers assigned to the new unit will receive additional crisis intervention training in the coming months, and he said the department will begin to think more critically about situations warranting the traditional SWAT response of armored vehicles and assault weapons.

“The Spokane Police Department is not about fluff,” Dobrow said.

The department’s decisions to use a SWAT response have been called into question by Blaine Stum, a Human Rights Commission member and legislative aide to City Councilman Jon Snyder. Stum compiled public records of the department’s use of SWAT between 2011 and 2013. Of the 112 times SWAT was deployed in those years, 64 were for warrant searches. Fifty-one of those cases involved searches targeting drugs, according to police records.

Stum requested the SWAT information following the police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the shooting of an unarmed teenager and an American Civil Liberties Union report highlighting what that group believes is a disproportionate response of tactical teams called in to search drug houses.

“My primary concern is that SWAT was created – and has been traditionally associated with – really high-risk, volatile situations,” Stum said.

The Spokane Police Department uses a risk assessment scoring system to determine if a tactical team is required. The investigation officer assigns points based on the belief of weapons on the premises, surveillance systems in use and the criminal history of the subject sought.

If a 15-point threshold is met, the department suggests a consultation with a tactical team leader. At 25 points, a consultation is required.

A suspect can score 17 points on the scale based on a history of drug use alone. But Stum is more concerned about the history of mental illness as a factor in determining whether to use a tactical team. Eight points are allotted for suspects with a history of mental illness.

“I think the idea of a risk analysis score sheet is perfectly OK, as long as it’s grounded in a certain reality,” Stum said. “People that are mentally ill are traditionally more likely to be victims than perpetrators.”

Dobrow said there are no immediate plans to change the scoring system that determines whether a tactical team leader will be consulted. But there are smarter ways police could serve search warrants without calling in officers outfitted in defensive gear, Dobrow said.

“We are going to be more thoughtful with how we use equipment,” Dobrow said.

Fagan said he was concerned the public might be confused by the new name, given its similarity to the Spokane Fire Department’s Alternate Response Unit, which is designed to respond to active shooter situations and rescue victims. Fagan also said despite the name change, the public likely will continue to recognize the tactical team as SWAT.

“People have come to know the Special Weapons and Tactics team, they’re a higher level than your normal street cop,” Fagan said. “The name basically tells the tale.”

Fagan added that he respects the reforms instituted by Chief Frank Straub and Dobrow, and that officers are “doing a hell of a job.”

Dobrow said there was reluctance within the force to giving up the tradition of SWAT but that officers embraced the change after the reasoning was explained.

“They’re in it for the right reasons,” Dobrow said of the ERU officers.

Staff writer Nicholas Deshais contributed to this story.