SWAT teams originated in the late 1960s, but their use greatly expanded in the 1980s as the Reagan administration doubled down on the drug war. In 1988 the Byrne Grant Program passed Congress, allocating substantial funding for anti-drug policing. As money was awarded for drug arrests, resources shifted toward drug raids, increasingly using SWAT teams for this purpose. Meanwhile federal programs were introduced increasing training and cooperation between the military and domestic law enforcement to battle drug crime.
Other Reagan-era policies encouraged the transfer of surplus military hardware to law enforcement, which in the 1990s became firmly established by the Clinton Administration's 1033 Program, incorporating millions of pieces of equipment designed for war zones into domestic policing agencies.
After the September 11 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, began awarding grants to enhance special operations and tactical resources to local, state, and federal agencies. Ali Winston, an Oakland-based journalist covering law enforcement, has watched the application of the DHS grants.
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Reagan was a Trojan horse, a false opposite to Jammy Carter
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