Talk:SWAT

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November 2, 2006	Good article nominee	Not listed

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United States versus international SWAT police

I see in the talk archives and in recent edits that some editors argue that this article is exclusively about US SWAT police. However, if there are reliable sources describing SWAT police in other countries, there is no reason why those police forces cannot also be described. It would probably be ideal to have a section somewhere in the article on the adoption of similar tactics and even names by international police forces. -Darouet (talk) 14:30, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Darouet: There are many sources that use SWAT in other countries besides the US. It is a term commonly used worldwide not only in the US. Often English language movies not centered in the US, and media reporting on events not centered in the US, use the term SWAT. The global police tactical unit article has official names used by Australian/New Zealand police tactical units and European police tactical units and includes the history of the term SWAT. Many European countries, and other non-European countries, created their own full time dedicated police tactical units in response to terrorism using their own tactics and equipment well before the US to combat terrorism.

Recent edits that I have reverted added China to this article. The English word SWAT is used in China as there is a photo of the word on a Chinese police officer's uniform as shown by an URL added by editor Thehistorianisaac. A 2023 journal article on police tactical units in China stated there were "900 teams with more than 48,000 enlisted officers [created] just within six years" and that "SWAT officers in China are recruited directly from society".^[1] Chinese SWAT is very different to SWAT in the US.

There is a global list of names used by police tactical units: List of police tactical units. Melbguy05 (talk) 12:41, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Liu, Lu; Chen, Li (June 2023). "Demystifying China's police tactical units". International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. 73: 100595. doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100595. Retrieved 6 May 2025.

[1] Liu, Lu; Chen, Li (June 2023). "Demystifying China's police tactical units". International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. 73: 100595. doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100595. Retrieved 6 May 2025.

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