What Are the Duties of the SWAT Team?
- SWAT refers to any law enforcement team that is specially trained to respond to situations that are beyond the capabilities of patrol officers and detectives. Some of the situations they respond to include hostage rescue, high-risk warrants and apprehension, narcotics raids, sniper situations, and civil unrest. Since September 11th 2001, most SWAT teams have been trained to respond to terrorist attacks as well. The specific situation dictates the level of force that SWAT teams are authorized to use.
- The National Tactical Officers Association has established a set of standards for law enforcement agencies to follow, as a means of improving and enhancing the performance of SWAT teams across the country. NTOA standards dictate that every part-time SWAT officer must take a 40-hour basic training course, spend 16 hours a month in basic skills maintenance and an additional eight hours a month for specialty assignments such as sniper training or medical support. Full-time tactical officers must train 25 percent of their on-duty time, in addition to the 40 hour basic course. SWAT officers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- The number of officers on a SWAT team and their basic duties can vary depending on the police department and the types of crimes they routinely deal with. The minimum NTOA standards require a team leader, four containment officers, five officers for emergency action, five officers for deliberate action, and two two-person marksman teams. The containment and emergency action officers are used in a variety of ways depending on the specific situation. They may be involved in perimeter security, forcible entry, suspect apprehension, hostage rescue or anti-sniper techniques.
- The specific plan of action in a given situation is decided by the team commander, who plans every detail of the tactical operation and presents the assault plan to the team. The commander typically is not in the field with the rest of the team, and relies on the team leader to coordinate and command the response effort. In some cities, hostage negotiators and medics are also a permanent part of each SWAT team, while in other jurisdictions they are brought in as needed. Some smaller departments will pool their resources and personnel to ensure they have enough tactical officers to respond to any given situation.