What does swat do

Some SWAT officers act as negotiators to try to talk criminals down, and others act as medical professionals in the event of injury. Some are experts in assault weapons and vehicles. All SWAT teams include various tactical officers who organize and conduct activities as needed. When not responding to incidences, SWAT officers complete routine tasks, such as traffic patrol and investigating cases. They must be able to handle individuals who are dangerous, aggressive, threatening, or even mentally ill.

SWAT officers must be extremely physically fit, with the ability to run for long distances, lift and carry heavy objects, and handle long periods of various types of weather. SWAT Team Member Selection and Training Often times, police officers volunteer for SWAT teams, and members are selected from fellow law enforcement professionals based on their service record, fitness abilities, and specialized police skills.

The selected professionals must undergo rigorous and specialized training to gain the ability to use specialized tactics and handle large weapons and other equipment. During training, members spend a great deal of time on physical fitness and firing weapons while moving and from various positions. As an additional resource, a Crisis Negotiation Team CNT is attached to SWAT and is available for establishing dialogue with various subjects at a critical incident, in an effort to attempt a safe resolution through communication.

Members of SWAT are selected to the team during a competitive process, in which their physical fitness, firearms skills, communications skills, decision making abilities, and job performance are evaluated. Once selected to the team, members are sent to a two-week Basic SWAT School, where they receive concentrated instruction in tactics, movement and searching techniques, and firearms handling and marksmanship.

Members of SWAT train together two days a month and one full week a year. Additional specialized training is attended individually or in small groups. On December 9th, search warrants for illegal weapons were served at the Black Panther Headquarters at 41st and Central Streets.

In the ensuing four-hour siege, thousands of rounds of ammunition were fired, resulting in the wounding of three Panthers and three police officers. The Panthers finally surrendered to SWAT officers, whose first mission was now an indelible part of history. In , the SWAT personnel were assigned on a full-time basis to Metropolitan Division to respond to continuing action by subversive groups, the rising crime rate and the continuing difficulty of mustering a team response in a timely manner.

The next major challenge for SWAT came in Over 2, hours of training, per officer, was invested in each operator in order to make this new concept a reality.