Swat reform.

• Position: List - Special Weapons and Tactics - Brief article

In 2008 police in Prince George's County, Maryland, conducted a violent drug raid on the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo. They didn't find any drugs, but they shot and killed Calvo's two Labrador retrievers and held him and his mother-in-law at gunpoint for hours.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Calvo has since become an outspoken advocate for SWAT reform. His efforts persuaded the Maryland legislature to pass the country's first law requiring all of the state's police departments to issue a biannual report on how often and for what purpose they use SWAT teams. In January, Calvo announced that he had settled the lawsuit he filed against Prince George's County after the raid. The deal included changes in the way the county uses and oversees its SWAT teams.

Here are Calvo's three recommendations for SWAT reform:

1 Think first. SWAT should be deployed only in...