Our SWAT team doesn’t arrive in a big black ATV
that belches stealthy, studly killers like we see on movies. Our SWAT team members each have a
day job. Whether it’s being a detective plodding through the required
paperwork that makes up the majority of his job. Or as a sergeant who gets to review all the red-light runners
video footage, these guys put in their time. But when THE phone call
comes they spring into action.
Action
might mean, as it did a couple weeks ago, standing in place for nine
hours, watching a garage door. Not exactly what you see on television.
Okay, he was given hourly five-ten minute pee breaks. Oh, while watching
the garage
door for any sign that the armed man inside might be making a deadly
move, said officer was holding a body shield. This weighed about twenty
pounds, if I
remember my number correctly, and had to be held at an awkward angle to
protect himself from any stray or intended bullets. Oh, and he also wore a sixty
pound vest. The vest was passed around the room, and though I consider
myself
to be a pretty strong female, it was a challenge to lift it. He
wore it for nine hours...plus he also had weapons…and let’s not forget
the
shield. Then when the situation was safely neutralized he then got to
jump into the required paperwork.
Our
SWAT team is called EST (Emergency Services Team). They are summoned for
high-risk situations, depending on when they occur. Three a.m. or 3:00
p.m. makes no difference. They are also scheduled for high-risk search
warrants. The team is made up of team players, no lone wolf gun men are
“hired” because without trust in each other the team is handicapped.
Rigorous training and testing is required to make the team.
These officers are no doughnut eating stereotype. They are fully loaded professionals who carry
their weight, the weight of others and sometimes the weight of the
world. And lest you think the game is all physical think again, it’s mental, too.
The commander has to assess situations, make decisions and has to
consider the full consequence of their choices, and that the actions of their team may land them
in hot water and in front of a grand jury. And they need to know that an
order will be followed without question by the officer who receives it.
For example, a flash bomb or distraction device is generally
a non-lethal, lots of noise, shock and awe tool. But to deploy one requires
answers and those answers better be acceptable to the powers that be.
If
you ever have wondered why, in hind sight and with the limited facts given to we civilians, a better decision was not
made, the above paragraph is your answer.
The EST members
told a story of a stand off that ended with the perpetrator’s death.
The guy had been slippery for months, hiding in special places that were
booby trapped and loaded with days worth of supplies, food and drugs.
He’d set up a compound that was going to be one of those the media talks
about for days, weeks, months if it was not neutralized. The team was
called in and they used the stealthy approach of over land and through a
creek bed. When there was a clear shot and the perpetrator was heading
for a room full of fire power he was taken down. And the department was raked
over the legal coals. The "victim" had not been actively shooting at the moment,
just headed for the literal big gun.
Bottom line. This job is one that requires a grown-up with guts.
