In 1969, members of the Black Panthers greeted a SWAT squad with shotgun blasts and machine gun fire when the officers arrived at the group's stronghold.
In 1974, a gunfight broke out with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the group that had kidnapped heiress Patricia Hearst. Six SLA members were killed.
In the 1980s, the unit's activities were scaled back in part because of criticism of its military-like nature.
Intensely proud and tightly knit, the unit is used largely to serve warrants on dangerous suspects and handle standoffs involving barricaded people.
Its record is impressive. In its 3,371 operations between 1972 and 2005, 83% ended without "untoward incident" and with the suspect in custody, the panel found. Of the 174 incidents involving hostages, several were killed by suspects, but only one died accidentally at the hands of SWAT officers. Through 2005, SWAT officers had killed suspects in 31 confrontations
Bratton called for a review of SWAT in August 2005 after a chaotic incident in which officers accidentally killed 19-month-old Suzie Pena, who was used as a shield by her father as he opened fire on officers. The eight-member panel included lawyers, consultants and police officers from outside agencies. At the time, Bratton told the media that the panel would dissect the Pena shooting, saying that "we need to understand intimately what transpired in that incident."
But in his private instructions to the panel that are included in the report, Bratton was far more expansive, calling Pena "a catalyst for the opportunity to look at SWAT" and saying that the unit "has been in a number of incidents that have raised concerns with me."
He said the panel should review fundamental questions about SWAT, including how the 60 members are selected and their strategies to resolve perilous confrontations.
"Are my concerns well-placed?" Bratton asked in his instruction letter to the panel. "The concerns include tactics and the speed at which SWAT engages in operations. . . . Are there artificial barriers for getting into SWAT that the 'good old boys' network has maintained?"
In fact, the panel did not ultimately address the Pena shooting, saying that it "was precluded from gaining a full and complete understanding" of what had happened. A source with knowledge of the panel's work said that happened because it waited until the department's internal investigations into the shooting had been completed before asking questions. By that time, the panel's report was largely finished.
