Swat Teams: Explosive Face-offs With America's Deadliest Criminals - Softcover

When Charles Whitman sprayed bullets in a brutal killing spree from the heights of the University of Texas clock tower in 1966, he single-handedly made history by dashing the security of millions and changing law enforcement forever. In the wake of this horrifying event, SWAT - Special Weapons and Tactics - teams were born. Since that time, such desperate, bloody face-offs with police have steadily increased, making SWAT an invaluable and necessary part of law enforcement. Captain Snow, author of the acclaimed Protecting Your Life, Home, and Property, and a police officer with over 25 years experience, delivers to the reader the immediacy of actual SWAT events - including both the notorious and the bizarre. We get a chilling glimpse into the desperate, twisted mind of the hostage taker - often hovering precariously between violence and suicide - and witness the brilliant, life-saving strategies SWAT commanders put into action to stop them. As Captain Snow demonstrates, whether intervening during a tension-filled hostage showdown or serving an arrest warrant to a heavily armed drug lord, SWAT teams are, in general, uniquely prepared to handle the most volatile and life-threatening police situations with poise, speed, and - when necessary - deadly force. From the unnerving events in Waco to the thousands of successes every year, Snow analyzes what works and doesn't work in a SWAT team. When the smoke clears, we find at the heart of this book the inspiring story of professionals who have dedicated their lives to saving others. Captain Snow gives us the real story behind the Hollywood image - at once exciting and sobering - of this relatively new and increasingly vital branch of lawenforcement.|Captain Snow, author of the acclaimed Protecting Your Life, Home, and Property, and a police officer with over 25 years experience, delivers to the reader the immediacy of actual SWAT events--in a chilling glimpse into the desperate, twisted mind of the hostage taker--often hovering precariously between violence and suicide--and witness the brilliant, life-saving strategies SWAT commanders put into action to stop them.

Captain Robert L. Snow is presently head of the Homicide Branch of the Indianapolis Police Department and has been a police officer in Indianapolis for over 30 years. During this time he has worked as a field officer, field sergeant, field lieutenant, field captain, Coordinator for the Field Training Officer Program, Commander of the Planning and Research Branch, Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police, Police Department Executive Officer, and Captain of Detectives. He is the acclaimed author of STOPPING A STALKER; FAMILY ABUSE; SWAT TEAMS; and PROTECTING YOUR LIFE, HOME AND PROPERTY; and has contributed articles to a wide variety of publications, including Reader's Digest, the Writer, Action Digest, the National Enquirer, the Saint Magazine, Law and Order, and Police, among others. Captain Snow graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University with degrees in criminal justice and psychology. He lives with his wife Melanie, a narcotics detective, in Indianapolis.