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Thoughts on Mumbai
Dec. 2nd, 2008 09:32 amI've been watching the TV coverage of the recent attacks in Mumbai, India. There seems to be a persistent thread in the coverage to the effect that Indian police response was lacking.
On the one hand, there is some truth to this. I've heard that most Indian police aren't armed, which creates an obvious problem. The head of the local anti-terrorism police getting himself shot was not helpful either. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a US city or police force would do much better. A couple of factors:
1) It's not hard to shoot your way into a sky-rise hotel, in India or the US. Once inside, a few guys with master keys "shooting and scooting" can tie down a lot of SWAT team members. Just think about the hiding places and back corridors.
2) Surprise is a big advantage. If the first indication of a problem to a beat cop is getting shot, the beat cop's effective responses are limited.
3) Modern police tactics, so far as I know, would try to bottle up the shooters and call SWAT. If SWAT is busy (see point 1) or the shooters plan the attack so as to not get bottled up, much chaos can ensue.
The bottom line is that incidents like this are both possible and not that difficult to pull off.
On the one hand, there is some truth to this. I've heard that most Indian police aren't armed, which creates an obvious problem. The head of the local anti-terrorism police getting himself shot was not helpful either. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a US city or police force would do much better. A couple of factors:
1) It's not hard to shoot your way into a sky-rise hotel, in India or the US. Once inside, a few guys with master keys "shooting and scooting" can tie down a lot of SWAT team members. Just think about the hiding places and back corridors.
2) Surprise is a big advantage. If the first indication of a problem to a beat cop is getting shot, the beat cop's effective responses are limited.
3) Modern police tactics, so far as I know, would try to bottle up the shooters and call SWAT. If SWAT is busy (see point 1) or the shooters plan the attack so as to not get bottled up, much chaos can ensue.
The bottom line is that incidents like this are both possible and not that difficult to pull off.
