Why?

This post is a bit of a venting session.

Why? That is the question that comes to mind when I see all these shows on TV where we provide the criminals that we are continually fighting with insights into how we do our jobs. The shows I am talking about are Dallas SWAT, Kansas City SWAT, Detroit SWAT, DEA, the Police Women of Broward County and countless others.

They take the TV cameras inside the briefing room so the criminals watching can learn about our raid planning and tactics. Now some will argue that there are not necessarily a lot of secrets out there about police tactics, but why do we make it so easy for the criminal element to learn from us? In scanning the television listings I do not see the Mexican Cartel with a weekly show revealing how they smuggle dope from Mexico into Canada and the US. I do not see shows with real organized crime figures showing how they launder money, smuggle people and dope and conduct the rest of their business. We have to get court orders for wire taps and develop elaborate undercover operations to access this intelligence. So why do we put our stuff on TV 25 times a week?

Why puzzles me more is why officers on those shows would take the cameras inside their homes so they can see their homes, their spouses and their children. Some of these same officers have unlisted phone numbers, they have their vehicles registered to addresses other than their home address and wear balaclava’s during raids to protect themselves and their families. So why do they allow the cameras to film them, their families and their homes?

I hope no harm ever comes to an officer or their family member as a result of these shows, but you have to be concerned that it is only a mater of time.

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Take care.

Brian Willis