I dunno, I think there is a place for specially trained law enforcement in cases like mass shootings or hostage crises.

Without a doubt though, these guys are deployed WAAAAAAAAY to often over WAAAAAAAAY to low a threshold of danger.

Then again, much the same can be said of law enforcement in general, they should really have an isolated line from 911.

It's way too often that these guys end up deployed where they really don't need to be, and it's just an established fact that cops interacting more than they need to causes increases in needless escalation of encounters between members of the public and the fired up and ready to shoot nutbags who think being dispatched means they gotta be ready for the goddamned hulk to come at them.

Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop (2013)