For the responding US SWAT teams, this incident poses a potentially dangerous situation. It is more of a military operation on a “movement to contact” than a conventional SWAT operation in the US. SWAT teams are trained and equipped to contend with criminals in barricade and hostage type situations and are accustomed to stacked (bunched together) movement and entry tactics. Typically the criminals encountered are found in small numbers— usually one or maybe two— and may or may not have a shotgun, semi-automatic rifle, and some form of body armor. It is the intent of such criminals to flee from responding police forces and only put up a fight if corned out of desperation—even then such criminals typically surrender to responding SWAT units. A group of 15 cartel/drug gang gunmen represents an entirely different threat—it essentially contains a reinforced squad of opposing force personnel. These cartel/gang foot soldiers will be proactive in their actions—not reactive like most criminals encountered— and therefore represent an opposing (enemy) force the US SWAT teams are unaccustomed to. Besides the potentials for ambushes and fires and movement being conducted by the cartel/gang gunmen, their semi-automatic (and full auto) assault weapons and the great likelihood of the presence of grenade-launchers and fragmentation grenades makes for a military-like engagement scenario that is beyond present SWAT capabilities to effectively respond. Under these circumstances, standard SWAT operating procedures—such as the use of stacked movement tactics— could be disastrous in their implementation. -from Dr. Bunker’s assessment about this incident.
This is very interesting and a hat tip to Dr. Bunker and SWJ for putting this up as tactical note #6. Basically what we have here is the cartels are battling it out along the grey areas of the border between the US and Mexico. Meaning if they are pursued by Mexican authorities, they cross over the border, and now that is a blocking action to stop the pursuit. Then of course the pursuit is picked up by the US authorities, but that is only if they are on the same sheet of music and included in the call. As you can see, the border is a strategic tool of the cartels to do what they gotta do. It is very similar to how the Taliban play the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it makes for a complex problem for authorities.
Now this would be complex for law enforcement to deal with one or two armed criminals playing the border like this, but in this particular incident, it got very complex and dangerous. A squad sized element of cartels, all armed with military grade weapons, crossed the border in pursuit of a target. The SWAT team on the US side was called out to deal with this ‘cartel infantry unit’. That is quite a scenario, and like Dr. Bunker mentioned, a SWAT team would have to rethink how they approach such a thing. This is movement to contact stuff here, and the police would have to be geared more like a infantry unit in order to compete. So will SWAT teams have to roll with M-240’s, grenade launchers, and mortars in their possession?
I could also see using drones for these kinds of call outs, just so law enforcement can get an eye on exactly what they are dealing with. Especially SUAV’s that could be carried in patrol cars and launched by one officer or border patrol agent. Anything to get eyes on the situation and see exactly what they have to deal with until a helicopter gets on scene. Because an officer coming up against a cartel infantry unit would not be a good day. They could also canvass the area and look for RIP crews that might further add violence and complexity to the situation.
This also poses a very interesting question. Should the defense of the border be a military job or a border patrol/law enforcement job? Or should the the police or border patrol continue to be modified and enhanced to look and act more like military units than police units? –Matt
SWAT teams dispatched as gun battle unfolds near Escobares
Ildefonso Ortiz and Jared Taylor
2011-11-08
ESCOBARES — Gunmen crossed the Rio Grande into the United States near a shootout between where the Mexican military and a group of gunmen was taking place.
Several area SWAT teams responded about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a ranch near Escobares, just across the U.S.-Mexico border, where a shootout broke out south of the Rio Grande.
The shootout reportedly began shortly after noon but details were not immediately available. Residents on the U.S. side reported seeing members of the U.S. Border Patrol and Starr County Sheriff’s Office securing the area near the border.
Border Patrol spokeswoman Rosalinda Huey said agents had been tracking a suspected drug load near La Rosita and pushed it back to Mexico.
Border Patrol alerted Mexican authorities of the suspected load and then found an injured Mexican national on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, Huey said. Emergency crews rushed the man to an area hospital. His condition remains unknown.