APRIL 17, 2026 POLICING MARIE Groundcover contributor The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Policing Institute are actively working to assist law enforcement leaders, mayors and communities to improve the appropriateness, effectiveness and accountability of specialized teams and programming. In 2024, the DOJ published “Considerations for Specialized Units: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies to Ensure Appropriateness, Effectiveness, and Accountability.” This guide may serve as a tool to investigate concerns raised during a 30-hourscene involving the Washtenaw Metro SWAT’s (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, spanning Jan. 4-5, 2026. Much of the community’s concern was aimed at how attempts to utilize funded and well-publicized (even advertised) crisis intervention resources devolved into a multijurisdictional, militaristic assault. The community feels Metro SWAT’s response to the crisis was overly aggressive. Law enforcement leadership explained the scene was viewed as a “barricaded incident” involving a suspect armed with a bladed weapon. (Multiple sources stated the weapon was a sword.) SWAT’s approach spilled into the street in the form of tear gas, flashbang grenades, guns, snipers, long range acoustic devices (LRADs) and other military grade equipment. The situation devolved further when it ignited images of 1963 Alabama with the use of firehoses, resulted in injuries to bystanders as well as neighbors, and culminated with making an entire building unsafe for human habitation. After this recent incident in Ypsilanti, law enforcement leaders expressed the opinion that there is room for growth, especially with respect to how SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Teams (CNTs) approach a mental health crisis. However, the goal of law enforcement when approaching situations with people who appear to be armed, is to prevent loss of life. According to non-law enforcement community members, ‘the siege’ is just another example of negative experiences resulting from attempts to utilize well-funded coordinated responses in the community. At this time there are multiple overlapping coordinated efforts between law enforcement and Community Mental Health; however it appears there is a need to review and overhaul the current methodology of SWAT, CNT, CMH, Crisis Response Unit, housing resources and other millage expenditures which many regard as wasteful and/or poorly executed. Regardless of what individual community members’ personal opinions may be about law enforcement, January’s experience with Metro SWAT traumatized an entire community. On the one hand, many community members feel SWAT is unnecessary under any circumstances. On the other hand, many community members feel SWAT has a purpose and there is a need for specialized law enforcement teams. Community members who were present at the incident feel their own presence was necessary, as they felt if they did not remain at the scene, the incident would have ended with a fatality. One neighbor stated, “Honestly I feel this incident could have ended more peacefully if they just let us surround the house while holding hands and singing songs.” Another Metro SWAT/CNT incident from 2018 was reportedly resolved using a cup of hot chocolate as a de-escalation tactic. A neighbor who lives a few blocks from the site of ‘the siege’ explained they were present at the perimeter maintained by the Ypsilanti Police Department (YPD) a few times over the course of the incident. This neighbor reported their eyes were impacted by the amount of tear gas in the air. According to the Michigan Legislature website, law enforcement is permitted to utilize two forms of “self-defense spray or foam device.” One form is what is commonly referred to as tear gas, and a canister in Michigan is not to contain “more than 35 grams of any combination of orthochlorobenzalmalononitrile and inert ingredients.” The second is commonly referred to as pepper spray and is “a solution containing not more than 18% oleoresin capsicum.” According to a 2023 NIH National Library of Medicine article, titled Tear Gas and Pepper Spray Toxicity, by Tidwell and Wills, tear gas and pepper spray “describe a group of agents used to subdue combative persons in a non-lethal manner.” The Tidwell and Wills article states that, “While the use of lacrimator agents have been banned in warfare for many years, they are still in use by law enforcement and civilians for personal protection.” These agents are known to cause coughing, breathing problems, chest pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of consciousness, blindness, skin rashes or blistering, liver and kidney damage and death. The severity of symptoms depends on a person’s pre-existing medical conditions, may be long-lasting or may take time to fully manifest, and worsens in poorly ventilated areas and after repeated exposures. According to a New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet printed in August 2000, there are workplace exposure limits on tear gas, and contact with skin may result in overexposure. During a Washtenaw Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 7, neighbors and witnesses shared their traumatic experiences, which included prolonged exposure to sound from the LRAD. According to an Oct. 27, 2020 article on phr.org (Physicians for Human Rights), titled “Health Impacts of Crowd-Control Weapons: Acoustic Weapons,” LRADs have the ability to cause pain, nausea, tinnitus and even hearing loss, especially at close range, over extended periods of time, or at the hands of abusive or inexperienced operators. According to the PHR article, "International human rights principles have been violated if the use of less than lethal incapacitating weapons is not adequately regulated, or if the weapons are used in an indiscriminate manner.” According to a 2021 article by Lethal in Disguise, called “Court limits LRAD use,” by the New York Police Department, a NYPD settlement, which followed injuries to Black Lives Matter protesters and journalists in 2014, included changes to policy regarding the use of LRADs and modified LRAD training. The NYPD now prohibits the use of “the painfully loud and highpitched ‘deterrent’ or ‘alert’ tone, though they may make voice announcements on the devices.” Several community members, neighbors and bystanders expressed concerns about the use of numerous flashbang grenades. During an NPR All Things Considered broadcast, titled “Investigation Reveals Rampant Use Of Flashbang Grenades By Police,” which aired Jan. 18, 2015, flashbangs are “A type of hand grenade used by the police and the military, but instead of shooting out deadly shrapnel, like a standard grenade, most of the flashbang’s explosive energy creates a blinding flash and a deafening boom.” The research presented during this broadcast described serious injuries up to death to law enforcement utilizing the devices, as well as to people inside dwellings where flashbangs are utilized. In one example, a flashbang landed in a portable crib causing the baby’s nose to be blown off, damage to the mouth and chest cavity, requiring eight reconstructive surgeries. In this NPR example, the flashbangs were utilized during a drug raid where no drugs were reportedly found, and the suspect in question did not live at the address. In another article available at GROUNDCOVER NEWS Metro SWAT/CNT’s room for improvement pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39624812/, from Dec. 2014, written by Patel and Echeverri, a “U.S. Army soldier sustained a left chest wall and shoulder blast injury with significant soft tissue damage, volumetric pectoralis major muscle loss, mild sensory nerve damage, and third-degree burns from a flashbang grenade.” The soldier required surgical intervention, pain management and physical therapy. The article reports the soldier had “a recovery with restored successful mobility and chest wall stability.” The article also states, “This case highlights the challenges of treating severe chest wall trauma with burns, emphasizing the importance of timely surgical intervention and a multidisciplinary approach.” Another less-than-lethal tool utilized during the incident in Ypsilanti was the Rook. The website for the Rook manufacturer Ring Power Corporation states there are four attachments that come standard: the armored deployment platform, hydraulic breaching ram, grapple claw and vehicle extraction tool. According to the website, the breaching ram is equipped with five infrared cameras which transmit to the inside of the Rook’s cab and can also be transmitted to the command center. According to an ABC13 Houston Aug. 25, 2023, interview with a SWAT lieutenant in Houston, the Rook is an armored vehicle generally used in situations involving dangerous and armed suspects. “This is usually reserved for when we have violent suspects inside, or something like that, who are refusing to come out peacefully.” According to the lieutenant, using the Rook supports the national preservation of life guideline “Property can be replaced, human lives can not.” According to a Washtenaw County law enforcement leader, Metro SWAT and CNT have operational commanders who report to the incident command on scene, which is the police agency’s senior officer requesting SWAT. For the recent Ypsilanti incident, YPD had the operational authority, as they were the jurisdiction where the incident occurred. “In Washtenaw County, CNT was created to ensure mental health experts from CMH were involved, given that barricaded incidents involving weapons typically have a mental health component. CNT will try negotiating first before escalating to SWAT whenever possible. The teams are a mutual resource for all police agencies in Washtenaw. If the teams need see SWAT page 16 15
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