SWAT / CNT

The Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) provides a group of highly trained and skilled officers that are utilized in instances where disciplined teamwork and specialized weapons and tactical skills are required to deal with and resolve law enforcement incidents that are high risk in nature, such as:

  • Armed barricaded suspect(s)
  • The service of high-risk search and arrest warrants
  • Sniper situation(s)
  • The taking of hostages

It has been shown over the years that the presence of a highly trained, highly skilled tactical unit can substantially reduce the risk of injury or loss of life to citizens, officers, and suspects; and the well managed "team" response to critical incident greatly increases the chances for a successful resolution.

SWAT Team TrainingService in Other Divisions

Additionally, the SWAT Team or portions thereof can be requested for use in other situations, by the various department entities, such as:

  • Detectives
  • Gang Units
  • Narcotics
  • Patrol

Potential Responses

The SWAT Team is capable of providing the full team or one component of the team depending on the circumstances and requirements of the mission. This flexibility allows the Department to best utilize tactically trained personnel and state of the art equipment to enhance the safety in resolving tactical situations that are above-average in risk that do not rise to the level of a traditional SWAT response, such as:

  • Planning and/or service of arrest or search warrants
  • Providing patrol supervisors with specialized equipment and tactically trained personnel to deploy the equipment in a reasonable time
  • Providing a response to situations necessitating the use of specialized less-lethal munitions and/or diversionary devices and providing counter-sniper capabilities during high-risk operations

Availability to Other Agencies

The Department's SWAT Team is also available to other state and local law enforcement agencies through mutual aid requests. Additionally, the SWAT Team assists federal law enforcement agencies with the service of search warrants in a wide variety of criminal investigations.

Crisis Negotiations Team

The SWAT Team is supported on missions by the department's Crisis Negotiations Team. The purpose of the team is to defuse potentially life-threatening situations through the use of proven verbal crisis management techniques.

The Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) operates in tandem with the SWAT team and provided communication and logistical support for the team on their missions.

Members of both the SWAT Team and Crisis Negotiations Team serve in this capacity as an auxiliary duty with their full-time duties being officers, detectives, or supervisors.