A
SWAT (
special weapons and tactics) team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers. SWAT team members' duties include: performing
hostage rescues and
counter-terrorism operations; serving high risk arrest and search warrants; subduing barricaded suspects; and engaging heavily-armed criminals. SWAT teams are often equipped with specialized firearms including
submachine guns,
assault rifles,
breaching shotguns,
riot control agents, stun grenades, and
sniper rifles. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced
night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers inside enclosed structures.
The first SWAT team was established by inspector
Daryl Gates in the
Los Angeles Police Department in 1968. Since then, many American and Canadian police departments, especially in major cities and at the
federal and
state-levels of government, have established their own elite units under various names; these units, regardless of their official name, are referred to collectively as SWAT teams in
colloquial usage.
History
Gates explained in his autobiography
Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported the underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support.
[3] Gates originally named the platoon "Special Weapons Assault Team"; however, this name was not generally favored and was rejected by his manager, deputy police chief
Ed Davis, as sounding too much like a military organization. Wanting to keep the acronym "SWAT", Gates changed its expanded form to "special weapons and tactics".
While the public image of SWAT first became known through the LAPD, perhaps because of its proximity to the mass media and the size and professionalism of the Department itself, the first SWAT-type operations were conducted north of
Los Angeles in the farming community of
Delano, California on the border between
Kern and
Tulare Counties in the
San Joaquin Valley. At the time,
César Chavez'
United Farm Workers union was staging numerous protests in Delano, both at cold storage facilities and outside non-supportive farm workers' homes on city streets. The Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc units using special weapons and tactics. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about the program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action, and afterwards took what he had learned back to Los Angeles where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit.
John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits, and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during
civil unrest. The LAPD SWAT units were organized as "D Platoon" in the Metro division.
[3] A report issued by the Los Angeles Police Department, following a shootout with the
Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization.
[4]
On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the
Watts Riots, which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of
snipers as a challenge to civil order;
political assassinations; and the threat of urban
guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." To deal with these under conditions of urban violence, the LAPD formed SWAT, notes the report.
The report states on page 109, "The purpose of SWAT is to provide protection, support, security, firepower, and rescue to police operations in high personal risk situations where specialized tactics are necessary to minimize casualties."
On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with a gunman in
Winnetka,
California led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence.
[5]
SWAT duties
SWAT duties include:
- Hostage rescue
- Riot control
- Perimeter security against snipers for visiting dignitaries
- Providing superior assault firepower in certain situations, e.g. barricaded suspects
- Rescuing officers or citizens endangered by gunfire
- Counter-terrorist operations
- Resolving high-risk situations with a minimum loss of life, injury, or property damage
- Resolving situations involving barricaded subjects (specifically covered by a hostage barricade team)
- Stabilizing situations involving high-risk suicidal subjects
- Providing assistance on arrest warrants and search warrants
- Providing additional security at special events
- Special stealth operations with silenced or suppressed weapons
- Special Training
Notable events
The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the
Black Panthers. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.
On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the
Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily-armed
left-wing guerrillas, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Police units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,772 rounds fired by the SLA, no uninvolved citizens or police officers sustained injury from gunfire. However all the gunmen inside were killed.
During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects'
Molotov cocktails.
[citation needed] Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds or perished in the ensuing blaze.
[citation needed]
By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons was a sniper rifle (a .243-caliber
bolt-action, based on the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. Standard gear included a first aid kit, gloves, and a
gas mask. At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily-armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued
body armor and automatic weapons of various types.
The
Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As noted in an article in the
Christian Science Monitor, "Instead of being taught to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, street officers are receiving the training and weaponry to take immediate action during incidents that clearly involve suspects' use of deadly force."
[6]
The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea is to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called
active-shooter situations. In these situations, it was no longer acceptable to simply set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT.
As an example, in the policy and procedure manual of the
Minneapolis Police Department, it is stated, "MPD personnel shall remain cognizant of the fact that in many active shooter incidents, innocent lives are lost within the first few minutes of the incident. In some situations, this dictates the need to rapidly assess the situation and act quickly in order to save lives."
[7]
With this shift in police response, SWAT units remain in demand for their traditional roles as hostage rescue, counter-terrorist operations, and serving high-risk warrants.
Organization
The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties, but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.
Although due to Officers having to be on call-out most of the day, they may put on regular patrol. To decrease response times to serious situations that need the direct attention of SWAT Officers, it is now a widely used method to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers. Such departments that need to use this are Sheriffs due to the size of the counties and places like Los Angeles traffic may be high so LAPD use cruisers to respond with their Officers so they do not have to return to the police building. Although for heavier duty equipment they may need to depending on the situation that arises.
By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times,
[8] for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants.
The New York Police Department's
Emergency Service Unit is one of the few civilian police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services, including search and rescue functions, and vehicle extraction, normally handled by fire departments or other agencies.
The need to summon widely-dispersed personnel, then equip and brief them, makes for a long lag between the initial emergency and actual SWAT deployment on the ground. The problems of delayed police response at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting has led to changes in police response,
[9] mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.
Training
SWAT officers are selected from volunteers within their law enforcement organization. Depending on the department's policy, officers generally have to serve a minimum tenure within the department before being able to apply for a specialist section such as SWAT. This tenure requirement is based on the fact that SWAT officers are still law enforcement officers and must have a thorough knowledge of department policies and procedures.
SWAT applicants undergo rigorous selection and training. Applicants must pass stringent physical agility, written, oral, and psychological testing to ensure they are not only fit enough but also psychologically suited for tactical operations.
Emphasis is placed on physical fitness so an officer will be able to withstand the rigors of tactical operations. After an officer has been selected, the potential member must undertake and pass numerous specialist courses that will make him a fully qualified SWAT operator. Officers are trained in marksmanship for the development of accurate shooting skills. Other training that could be given to potential members includes training in explosives, sniper-training, defensive tactics, first-aid, negotiation, handling
K9 units,
rappelling and roping techniques and the use of specialized weapons and equipment. They may also be trained specifically in the handling and use of special ammunition such as
bean bags, flash bang grenades,
tasers, and the use of crowd control methods, and special
non-lethal munitions. Of primary importance is close-quarters defensive tactics training, as this will be the primary mission upon becoming a full-time SWAT officer.
SWAT equipment
SWAT teams use equipment designed for a variety of specialist situations including
close quarters combat (CQC) in an urban environment. The particular pieces of equipment vary from unit to unit, but there are some consistent trends in what they wear and use.
Weapons
While a wide variety of weapons are used by SWAT teams, the most common weapons include submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.
Tactical aids include K9 Units, as well as
flash bang,
stinger, and
tear gas grenades.
Semi-automatic pistols are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to:
M1911 pistol series,
Sig Sauer series
[12][13] (especially the
Sig P226[11][13][14] and
Sig P229),
Beretta 92 series,
[13] Glock pistols,
[12][15][11][16][17][18] H&K USP series,
[13][19] and
5.7x28mm FN Five-seveN pistol.
[20]
Common submachine guns used by SWAT teams include the 9 mm and 10 mm
Heckler & Koch MP5,
[10][11][12][13][17][18][19] Heckler & Koch UMP,
[11] and 5.7x28mm
FN P90.
[21]
Common shotguns used by SWAT units include the
Benelli M1,
[17][18][22] Benelli M4,
Benelli M1014,
Remington 870[10][11][14][17] and
1100,
Mossberg 500 and
590.
[13]
Common carbines include the
LWRC PSD Rifle,
Colt CAR-15 [10][11][16][17] resp.
M4[11][12][14][19][clarification needed] and
Heckler & Koch G36[18] resp.
HK416.
[23] While affording SWAT teams increased penetration and accuracy at longer ranges, the compact size of these weapons is essential as SWAT units frequently operate in
Close quarters combat (CQB) environments. The
Colt M16A2[12][14][19] can be found used by marksmen or SWAT officers when a longer ranged weapon is needed.
[10]
Common sniper rifles used are
M14 rifle and the
Remington 700P.
[10][12][14][17][18][19] Many different variants of bolt action rifles are used by SWAT, including limited use of
.50 caliber sniper rifles for more intense situations.
[24]
To breach doors quickly,
battering rams, shotguns with breaching rounds, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many non-lethal munitions and weapons. These include
Tasers,
pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with bean bag rounds,
Pepperball guns,
stinger grenades, flash bang grenades, and
tear gas. Ballistic shields are used in close quarters situations to provide cover for SWAT team members and reflect gunfire. Pepperball guns are essentially
paint ball markers loaded with balls containing
Oleoresin Capsicum ("pepper spray").
Vehicles
SWAT units may also employ ARVs, (Armored Rescue Vehicle
[25]) for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians/officers pinned down by gunfire. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or
fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles. During the 1997
North Hollywood shootout, LAPD
SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging battle scene.
[26][27][28][29]
Units such as the
Ohio State Highway Patrol's Special Response Team (SRT) used a vehicle called a B.E.A.R., made by Lenco Engineering which is a very large armored vehicle with a ladder on top to make entry into the second and third floors of buildings. Numerous other agencies such as the LAPD,
[30][31] LASD [31] and NYPD use both the B.E.A.R. and the smaller
Lenco BearCat variant.
[32][33] Anaheim Police Department has a customized B.E.A.R. fitted with a ladder for assaulting multi-story buildings. The LAPD as well as other agencies also fit their vehicles with the 'MARS' (Mobile Adjustable Ramp System for gaining entry to elevated platforms.
[34]
The Tulsa Police Department's SOT (Special Operations Team) uses an
Alvis Saracen, a British-built
armored personnel carrier. The Saracen was modified to accommodate the needs of the SOT. A Night Sun was mounted on top and a ram was mounted to the front. The Saracen has been used from warrant service to emergency response. It has enabled team members to move from one point to another safely.
The police departments of Killeen and Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. use the
Cadillac Gage Ranger,
[14] as does the
Florida Highway Patrol.
[35]
Criticism of SWAT
The use of SWAT teams in non-emergency situations has been criticized.Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the
Cato Institute, authored
Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.
Other studies include
Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber from the same institute and
Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units by Dr. Peter Kraska and his colleague Victor Kappeler, professors of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University, who surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold since the early 1980s
