The numbers behind SWAT raids

LIMA - The recent trial of a police sergeant charged in the shooting death of an unarmed woman revealed a lot, including a close look at how dangerous SWAT drug raids can be.

Officers come across children, dangerous dogs, typically pit bulls, and many other surprises through every doorway of a house. Decisions are made in a split second, often as a reaction from hundreds of hours of training.

SWAT raids are a heart-pumping, charge into the unknown where the SWAT team takes down a door and floods the house with "a flow" of officers, at least two going into each room. Raids typically have between nine and 12 officers, according to testimony during the negligent homicide and negligent assault trial of Sgt. Joe Chavalia.

Chavalia was acquitted by a jury Monday in the Jan. 4 shooting death of 26-year-old Tarika Wilson and for wounding her 1-year-old son, Sincere, who was in her arms. The shooting took place during a SWAT drug raid at her home at 218 E. Third St.

Police were after Wilson's boyfriend, Anthony Terry, who was staying with Wilson. They found him inside. Chavalia shot Wilson after he thought he was being fired upon by a "shadowy figure" in a doorway that turned out to be Wilson. The gunfire, he later learned, came from officers shooting pit bulls downstairs. Chavalia was on a staircase entering the upstairs.

The Lima News analyzed Lima police SWAT raid records since 2002, including the deadly raid in January. Since 2002, there have been 198 raids. The most raids occurred in 2007 with 53, followed by 39 in 2006. Other years, there typically were less than 30, with a low of 14 in 2004.

Raids often are the result of drug investigations by the department's Pro-Active Crime Enforcement team. Investigators use the SWAT team to clear a house of dangers such as a person with a gun so investigators can get in to search for drugs, weapons and other items, PACE investigator Tim Goedde said at trial.

Officers are called in on a moment's notice and cannot turn down an assignment without good excuse. A child's birthday would not be a good excuse. The day of the deadly raid, Chavalia was off work when he received a message that the PACE team was planning a raid for that evening.

Goedde said he obtained a nighttime, no-knock search warrant because of the violent past of Terry and the potential for danger. The house offered a chance to catch Terry in an isolated, contained location from which he could not run or drive away, potentially putting more people at risk, Goedde said.

The SWAT team is used to control the situation in the safest manner dealing with various threats, said Goedde who spent eight years on the highly trained team.

The SWAT team has various functions from serving drug warrants to providing security for presidential visits. It also performs high-risk surveillance, Chavalia testified.

Officers are heavily armed with assault rifles that can be transferred into automatic mode in the flip of a switch to shoot up to 30 rounds with a single pull of the trigger.

The Lima police SWAT team is a part-time assignment for officers who work the streets, desk and investigations, as well as other assignments. Officers are highly trained with at least eight hours of training a month as well as outside training offered, sometimes two weeks at a time.

Of the 198 raids, 25 - or 13 percent - were nighttime raids, which means the raids took place between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. To obtain a nighttime warrant, officers must convince a judge there is an urgent need to get into the house, such as to prevent evidence from being destroyed, SWAT team Commander Lt. Chip Protsman testified.

In the past five and a half years, 277 people have been arrested in the 198 raids. Numerous other people were discovered during raids including uncharged suspects, children and witnesses. Uncharged suspects at the time the report was taken accounted for 84 people and there were 20 people who were children, identified on records as under the age of 18.

The average age of an adult found at raids was 32, but some people were much older, including in their 70s.

Of the people discovered at raids, 331 identified on reports were black and 87 were white. There were 111 people listed whose race was redacted or unreported. Of all the people identified by sex, 65 percent were males and 35 percent females.

SWAT raids for 2008 are on the pace to hit 32. Raids did not stop as a result of the Third Street fatality, which brought an enormous amount of criticism, especially from the black community.

Lima police Chief Greg Garlock said following the Third Street fatality people at various neighborhood association meetings urged him to continue the raids and to keep after drug houses that destroy neighborhoods.

Police did that with the first two raids after the Third Street shooting on Jan. 25. There have been 14 SWAT raids since the deadly incident, and Garlock said raids will continue.