03/23/2023
By Karen Mullins

The College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by Anthony M. Frongillo on "The Genesis and Development of a Suburban SWAT Tea."

Date: Friday April 7, 2023
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom

Committee:

  • Chair Melissa Morabito, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Christopher Harris, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Jill Portnoy, Adjunct Faculty, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Jason Rydberg, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
Despite Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams permeating many aspects of policing, they are also a highly overlooked topic in policing research. The existing literature is minimal and primarily features descriptive data and findings. To address this gap in the literature, this research on the development of one suburban team in the northeastern United States employed a revelatory case study approach using mixed methodology to investigate exploratory and explanatory research questions. Analysis of interviews, surveys, and After-Action Reports from a four-year period aimed to provide evidence detailing this particular team’s distinctive perspective on its evolution, and its performance relative to its specified goals. The findings indicated that the initial creation of this unit follows the Structural Contingency Model, resulting from a collection of social and political issues at the time. After its initial development, this team’s growth was closely associated with the tenets of institutional theory as it fought for legitimacy across a myriad of internal and external challenges. Culture appears to play a significant role in internal legitimacy, and an equally important role in external legitimacy. An analysis of activations demonstrates that, despite popular belief that most activations are for high-risk warrants, 25% of activations from this team were for barricaded suspects, 25% were for high-risk warrants, 25% for special events, and 20% were for search and rescue missions. The use of force data illustrates that despite being faced with lethal situations, this team never used lethal force, and used less-lethal force five times. Search and rescue operations occur more frequently in the more highly affluent neighborhoods, whereas warrant service is more frequent in low-income areas. Barricades fall in between these two socio-economic strati. Incident resolution is strongly impacted by location type and the incident type.