Behind the Bastards: Daryl Gates — The Man Who Invented SWAT Teams and DARE (Part Two)

Podcast: Behind the Bastards
Host: Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts
Air Date: October 23, 2025
Guests: Bridget (There Are No Girls on the Internet)

Episode Overview

This episode continues the deep dive into Daryl Gates, former LAPD chief, focusing on his foundational role in creating SWAT teams and the DARE program. The hosts examine Gates' response to the Watts Riots, the birth and expansion of militarized policing, his controversial policies and public statements, and the lasting legacy of police propaganda, carceral drug education, and urban conflict in the U.S. The conversation is candid, critical, and full of both historical details and critical contemporary parallels.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Watts Riots and the LAPD's Escalation (03:01–18:14)

• Context of 1960s Policing
  The episode opens by painting a picture of Los Angeles in 1965, emphasizing the widespread, normalized culture of drinking and casual policing standards at the time.

  "The cops aren't sober on the road. Nobody is. It's the 60s, right? There's no seatbelts, there's barely laws. Having a road soda is the most normal thing." (A, 03:09)

• Arrest of Marquette Frye Sparks Civil Unrest
  The arrest of Marquette Frye, a Black man, after a routine drunk driving stop leads to an escalating confrontation as crowds (and police reinforcements) gather. Both the police and community members, many intoxicated and already on edge due to racial tensions, exacerbate the situation.

  "By the time Marquette got angry, a crowd... had gathered. Minicus's partner slipped off and radioed a code 1199 — officer needs help... The crowd... was starting to turn hostile." (A, 07:05)

• Police Response Determined by Gates
  Daryl Gates—then a young inspector—arrives and decides to respond with overwhelming force rather than de-escalation.

  "His first priority is to put a lid on the situation... by doing the same thing that had made it spread." (A, 09:13)

• Cycle of Violence and Leadership Failure
  Community leaders urge restraint, but LAPD leadership (with a Cold War, 'insurgency' mindset) escalates, leading to catastrophic rioting and destruction.

  “Parker compared the rebellion to Viet Cong insurgents, insisting a paramilitary response was necessary.” (A quoting Metropole, 16:31)

• Emergence of "Urban Insurgency" Language
  The episode points out how the language of counterinsurgency—framing urban unrest as warfare—emerges here and persists in American police discourse.

The Birth of SWAT: Militarized Policing Comes Home (25:57–47:49)

• Inspiration from Watts and Vietnam
  Gates and Marine-vet John Nelson create the first SWAT team, deliberately modeling it after military counterinsurgency units in Vietnam. They see urban protests and labor strikes (notably the Delano Grape Strike) as requiring a 'special operations' response.

  "We need to take the tactics that we're using in these colonial wars overseas and bring them home. This is really when that gets started in an organized way." (A, 29:31)

• SWAT’s First Action: Black Panther Headquarters Raid
  The initial SWAT raid, targeting the Black Panthers, results in a prolonged shootout but few arrests and no deaths—underscoring tactical ineffectiveness and risk to the public.

  "Four police officers are injured and four Panthers are injured. And again, no one dies. Which is wild for how many bullets are flying..." (A, 36:40)

• The Spread of SWAT and Copaganda
  Federal funding (via the LEAA) and the rise of cop TV shows (notably SWAT) and video games popularize and proliferate militarized units nationally.

  “This is one of the very first pieces of Copaganda... the SWAT TV show's theme song reaches number one on the Billboard top 100 in 1976.” (A, 45:12)

• SWAT as Symbol & Spectacle
  Gates' creation of SWAT is as much about image—for police, policymakers, and the public—as it is about tactical innovation.

  "He is declaring war on the thugs and radicals who, in the eyes of conservative white America, were responsible for everything that was going wrong in the country." (A, 47:27)

Gates' Tenure as Chief and Escalation of the Police State (47:49–64:14)

• Racism and Lack of Accountability
  Gates makes openly racist remarks about Black and Latino citizens and officers. His force operates in almost complete autonomy due to political alliances.

  "We may be finding that in some blacks, when the carotid chokehold is applied... they don't open up as fast as they do on normal people." (A, 51:12)

• Public Backlash and Community Division
  Early efforts to install police oversight and review boards are defeated by Gates’ alliances with mayors and leveraging crack and crime panics—splitting even Black community leaders between civil rights and desire for order.

• The 1984 Olympics and Militarization
  The Olympics are used as a pretext to acquire armored vehicles and heavy weaponry for the LAPD—equipment retained and redeployed afterward.

• Operation HAMMER: Criminalization of Black Neighborhoods
  Gates expands mass sweeps, exemplified by Operation HAMMER, which treats minority communities as enemy territory, with mass detentions and searches for trivial “gang” cues.

  “In a state of war, civil rights are suspended for the duration of the conflict.” (Press secretary for State Senator Diane Watson, 63:19)

DARE: Policing Meets Public School Propaganda (64:14–73:26)

• The Real Objective of DARE
  DARE is less about preventing drug use—studies show it is ineffective or counterproductive—and more about normalizing the presence of police in schools and framing drug use as a law enforcement issue.

  “DARE developed broad-based appeal ... driving home the message that solving youth drug use was best left to law enforcement rather than social services or public health.” (A quoting Cantor, 67:51)

• Cultural Impact and Corporate Sponsorship
  Gates institutionalizes "cop in schools" by securing corporate sponsorship for DARE, strengthening the carceral pipeline and police legitimacy in youth education.

The Downfall: Rodney King, the LA Riots, and Gates’ Resignation (73:26–82:02)

• Rising Scandal, Decreasing Control
  With rising crime, publicized police misconduct, and major scandals (including the killing of unarmed citizens), Gates’ policies see diminishing returns.

• Rodney King Beating and the 1992 Riots
  The brutal police beating of Rodney King, caught on camera, triggers outrage. Gates’ mishandling of the riots and absence as Los Angeles burns leads to his forced resignation.

  “He just fucks up at every stage of this and he tries to throw the blame onto some of his lower ranking guys.” (A, 77:13)

• Finale
  Gates retires, is never held meaningfully accountable, and continues to be celebrated in certain circles. His legacy endures through ongoing militarization, copaganda, and embedded police presence in American society.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On militarization logic:

  "What wins wars is having a plan for how to win that fucking war." (A, 33:54)

• On roots of urban policing:

  "They’re saying the response to this is... spec ops units for American cities. That is very new and modern." (A, 29:31)

• On DARE’s deeper purpose:

  "The DARE officer helped normalize and legitimize the police as a feature of the school environment... tying drug education to a carceral frame." (A quoting Cantor, 67:53)

• On racist police pseudo-science:

  "We may be finding that in some blacks... they don’t open up as fast as they do on normal people." (A quoting Gates, 51:18)

• On Gates’ policy cycle:

  "Look at how crime keeps rising—We gotta have more cops and guns, huh? Crime rose again. We need even more cops and guns." (A, 47:27)

• Dark humor on “attack teams”:

  "Teams with special weapons who attack American citizens. Right? That’s what SWAT is." (A, 31:19)

• On media and propaganda:

  "It’s the same playbook that Gates is really writing in this period of time... he puts them together for the first time right now." (A, 46:15)

• On public acquiescence:

  "I do think we have to contend with the ways that a lot of our black community leaders... did sort of support some of this tough on crime policing." (B, 63:25)

• On systemic failure:

  "All the regular people being like, ‘But they’re just saying whoever they hate is the bad guys.’... is that the solution to a lady who’s not paying her gas bill and yells at the gas man?" (A, 49:15)

• Reflecting on contemporary parallels:

  "I can just draw such a straight line from what you’re describing to what’s happening now." (B, 55:48)

Important Timestamps

• [03:01]– Watts Riots begin; Gates' crucial decisions.
• [16:01]– LAPD & National Guard escalation; national lens on Watts.
• [25:57]– Post-Watts: Birth of SWAT, influence of Vietnam War tactics.
• [36:04]– First SWAT raid on Black Panther HQ.
• [41:38]– SWAT raid on the SLA, media spectacle and popularization.
• [51:18]– Gates' racist ‘chokehold’ pseudo-science claim.
• [63:19]– Operation HAMMER; “civil rights are suspended for the duration.”
• [64:14]– The rise and real intent of DARE.
• [73:26]– LAPD scandals, community backlash, and Gates' lost control.
• [75:41]– Rodney King beating, LA Riots, and Gates’ resignation.
• [82:02]– Gates’ retirement and enduring legacy.

Final Reflections & Legacy

The episode concludes with the view that Daryl Gates cemented the militarization and public image of American policing, exporting SWAT nationwide, embedding police officers in schools, and setting a playbook still referenced by politicians, police, and media today. His legacy, according to the hosts, is a lesson in how “bad ideas, given enough forceful PR, can become the status quo if they serve enough powerful interests”—and that reform remains hampered by these deeply rooted narratives.

For more episodes: behindthebastards.com
Follow Bridget: Instagram @bridgetmarieindc, Podcast: There Are No Girls on the Internet

(Summary by Podcast Summarizer AI – All ad sections, intros/outros, and non-content portions have been excluded for clarity and focus.)