James Dobbins
San Antonio Police in riot gear stand at the ready during the George Floyd protests in San Antonio in 2020.
SAPD last month took part in the UAE SWAT Challenge, an annual event hosted by the Dubai Police in Dubai, which drew police units from some 70 countries. Some of those countries, including Russia, China and the Philippines, have faced scrutiny for human-rights violations and extrajudicial killings by law enforcement officials, according to the report.
Indeed, the United Arab Emirates, which hosted the competition, has also faced criticism from Amnesty International and other groups for crackdowns on free expression, arbitrary detentions and jailing of political dissidents.
SAPD and the New York Police Department were the only two U.S. police departments to participate in the contest, according to TPR.
“I don't think that it’s advisable for U.S. police units to be associated with any other police department or police unit or with countries with a poor human rights record,” Ariel Dulitzky, director of the UT Austin School of Law’s Human Rights Clinic, told the news organization. “I don't think that it's the type of a partnership that U.S. police departments should seek.”
In a statement to TPR, an SAPD spokesperson said the department took part in the UAE SWAT Challenge in the spirit of competition.
However, Ananda Tomas — executive director of San Antonio police-reform group ACT4SA — said she worries the competition and others of its type may lead U.S. law enforcement organizations further down the path to militarization. SAPD officers engaged in 22 shootings last year, leaving 14 people dead, she added.
“SAPD tripled the amount of people that they killed in 2023 from 2022,” she said. “And cozying up next to known violent SWAT teams, police forces, law enforcement, can do nothing but increase those violent tactics and that type of trend.”
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