Even though this is a short editorial I still want to specifically point out the key to this police unit's high quality work:
The unit's officers train five or six days each month, according to Lieutenant Robert O'Toole, commander of the tactical team. Supervisors stress discipline and self-control as well as tactics. That's why entry team officers are able to remain calm and professional, says O'Toole, "when our guy goes out on a stretcher and the other guy walks out with an attitude."
TWICE IN less than a month, Boston police officers have shown exceptional restraint in the face of gunfire. The members of the department's entry and apprehension team deserve the public's gratitude for a dangerous job done exceptionally well.
On Wednesday, Officer Kevin Ford, 49, was shot once while executing a search warrant for drugs and firearms in Roxbury. The bullet struck Ford's body armor, sparing him serious injury. Members of the unit subdued the suspect without returning fire. Another member of the entry team, Officer Scott O'Brien, 27, was shot and seriously wounded last month while serving a warrant in Quincy. The suspect fired at least half a dozen shots at officers. Police fired back just once, enough to drive back the suspect, who later surrendered unharmed.
Members of the 40-member unit specialize in apprehending barricaded suspects and serving warrants on dangerous felons. Officers are expert in the use of several weapons systems, wall penetrating radar, ballistics shields, remote cameras, and other high-tech tools. The unit lacks thermal imaging equipment, however. Police administrators should supply that tool, which might have been useful in detecting and intercepting the hidden suspect who shot O'Brien.
The unit's officers train five or six days each month, according to Lieutenant Robert O'Toole, commander of the tactical team. Supervisors stress discipline and self-control as well as tactics. That's why entry team officers are able to remain calm and professional, says O'Toole, "when our guy goes out on a stretcher and the other guy walks out with an attitude."
High-risk entry teams operated at the district level until 2000. But O'Toole argued successfully to centralize the function as a means to improve both training and unit cohesion.
The reputation of the entry team is climbing steadily in Boston.