SWAT

The United States National Tactical Officers Association's definition of SWAT is:

SWAT: A designated law enforcement team whose members are recruited, selected, trained, equipped and assigned to resolve critical incidents involving a threat to public safety which would otherwise exceed the capabilities of traditional law enforcement first responders and/or investigative units.{{cite web

| title = Tactical Response and Operations Standard for Law Enforcement Agencies

| url = http://ntoa.org/pdf/swatstandards.pdf

| website = National Tactical Officers Association

| access-date = 2017-05-25

| date = September 2015

}}

File:Seal of LAPD Special Weapons and Tactics.svg is one of the world's most prominent SWAT units and was the second SWAT team established in the United States, after that of the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964.Mitchel P. Roth & James Stuart Olson, Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, Westport, Ct: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, p. 333 and; John S. Dempsey & Linda S. Forst, An Introduction to Policing, Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2011, p. 276.]]

According to the Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, the term "SWAT" was used as an acronym for the "Special Weapons and Tactics" established as a 100-man specialized unit in 1964 by the Philadelphia Police Department in response to an alarming increase in bank robberies. The purpose of this unit was to react quickly and decisively to bank robberies while they were in progress, using a large number of specially trained officers who had a great amount of firepower at their disposal. The tactic worked and was used to resolve other types of incidents involving heavily armed criminals.{{cite book

| title = Crime and Punishment: A History of the Criminal Justice System

| author = Mitchel P. Roth

| pages = 283

| date = June 2, 2010

| publisher = Cengage Learning; 2 edition

}} The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Special Weapons and Tactics was established in 1967.{{cite web |title=S.W.A.T. |url=http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/848 |website=Los Angeles Police Department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221083432/http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/848 |archive-date=21 February 2020 |url-status=dead}} LAPD inspector Daryl Gates envisioned the "SWAT" acronym to be "Special Weapons Attack Team" but this was not accepted by deputy chief Edward M. Davis who instead approved Special Weapons and Tactics.{{cite book |last1=Gates |first1=Daryl F. |last2=Shah|first2=Diane K. |title=Chief : my life in the L.A.P.D. |date=1992 |publisher=Bantam Books |location=New York |isbn=055307301X |page=114}}

The LAPD promoted what became known as SWAT teams for a variety of reasons. After the racially-charged Watts riots in Los Angeles in August 1965, the LAPD began considering tactics it could use when faced with urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. Daryl Gates, who led the LAPD response to the riots, would later write that police at the time did not face a single mob, but rather "people attacking from all directions".{{cite book| last1= Balko| first1= Radley| title= Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces| date= 2013| publisher= PublicAffairs| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vTkTTIF1IpUC| access-date = November 30, 2014| isbn = 9781610392129}} New York University professor Christian Parenti has written that SWAT teams were originally conceived of as an "urban counterinsurgency bulwark".{{cite book

| last1 = Parenti

| first1 = Christian

| title = Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis

| date = 2000

| publisher = Verso

| isbn = 978-1-85984-303-1

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/lockdownamericap00pare

}}{{rp|112}}

Another reason for the creation of SWAT teams was the fear of lone or barricaded gunmen who might outperform police in a shootout, as happened in Austin with Charles Whitman.

After the LAPD's establishment of its own SWAT team, many law enforcement agencies in United States established their own specialized units under various names. 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.{{cite web

| url = http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/849

| title = Development of SWAT

| access-date = June 19, 2006

| publisher = Los Angeles Police Department

}}

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, the United Farm Workers union led by César Chavez was staging numerous protests in Delano in a strike that would last over five years from 1965 to 1970. Though the strike never turned violent, the Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc SWAT-type units involving crowd and riot control, sniper skills, and surveillance. 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, he 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.{{cite web

| url = http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/849

| title = Development of SWAT

| publisher = Los Angeles Police Department

| access-date = June 19, 2006

}}

Early police powers and tactics used by SWAT teams were aided by legislation passed in 1967–68 with the help of Republican House representative Donald Santarelli. The legislation was promoted within the context of fears over the civil rights movement, race riots, the Black Panther Party, and the emerging War on Drugs.

The first significant deployment of the LAPD SWAT was on December 9, 1969, when an attempt by the LAPD to serve arrest warrants against the Black Panthers led to a four-hour standoff at their Los Angeles headquarters at 41st and Central, during which over 5,000 rounds were exchanged between police and the Panthers. During the shootout, Daryl Gates called the Department of Defense, requesting and receiving permission to use a grenade launcher; however, it was never actually used. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with four Panthers and four officers being injured. All six arrested Panthers were acquitted of the most serious charges brought against them, including conspiracy to murder police officers, because it was ruled that they acted in self-defense.

By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a police resource in 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 afterwards. SWAT teams engaged in a several-hour gun battle with the SLA; no police were wounded, but the six SLA members died in the conflict, which ended when the house caught fire and burned to the ground.

By the time of the SLA shootout, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team being divided further into 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 military 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.

A report issued by the LAPD after the SLA shootout offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. 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."{{cite web

| url = http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/soliah/docs/lapdreport.pdf

| title = Report following the SLA Shoot-out (PDF)

| publisher = Los Angeles Police Department

| access-date = July 4, 2008

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120226115805/http://www.trutv.com/newname.html

| archive-date = February 26, 2012

}}

File:Members of the 60th Security Police Squadron's Base Swat Team.jpg SWAT officers during a training exercise at Travis Air Force Base in 1995]]

In 1981 U.S. Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, giving police access to military intelligence, infrastructure, and weaponry in the fight against drugs. Reagan subsequently declared drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security.{{rp|76–77}} In 1988 the Reagan administration encouraged Congress to create the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Program. The program modified existing federal aid structures to local police, making it easier to transfer money and equipment to fight the War on Drugs. Police forces also received increased assistance from the DEA. The money resulted in the creation of many narcotics task forces, and SWAT teams became an important part of these forces.{{cite book

| last1 = Alexander

| first1 = Michelle

| title = The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

| date = 2013

| publisher = The New Press

| isbn = 978-1-59558-819-7

| title-link = The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

}}{{rp|73–75}}

In 1972, paramilitary police units launched a few hundred drug raids annually within the United States. In the early 1980s, SWAT drug raid numbers increased to 3000 annually, and by 1996, 30,000 raids annually.{{rp|73–75}} During the 1990s, according to The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, weapons donations from the Department of Defense greatly bolstered the number of SWAT teams and the extent of their operations. The paper reported that the military transferred nearly 100,000 pieces of military equipment to Wisconsin police departments in the 1990s.{{rp|77}}

Criminal justice professors Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, in their study Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units, surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold between the early 1980s and late 1990s.{{cite journal

| last = Kraska

| first = Peter B.

| author2 = Victor E. Kaeppler

| date = Feb 1997

| title = Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units

| journal = Social Problems

| volume = 44

| issue = 1

| pages = 1–18

| publisher = University of California Press

| jstor = 3096870

| doi = 10.1525/sp.1997.44.1.03x0209a

}}

{{further|Columbine effect}}

The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were shooting students and staff inside the school, officers did not intervene in the shooting, but instead set a perimeter as they were trained to do. By the time they did enter the school, 12 people were killed and Harris and Klebold had committed suicide. They were also heavily criticized for not saving teacher Dave Sanders, who had died from blood loss, three hours after the SWAT first entered the school.{{Cite web | url=https://www.westword.com/news/swat-leaders-defense-of-columbine-response-too-little-much-too-late-8028541 | title=SWAT Leader's Defense of Columbine Response: Too Little, Much Too Late| date=June 22, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/victim/sanders.php|title=Coach William "Dave" Sanders}} 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."{{cite web

| url = http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/durableRedirect.pl?/durable/2000/05/31/fp2s2-csm.shtml

| title = Report following the Columbine High School Massacre

| work = The Christian Science Monitor

| access-date = June 19, 2006

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050904193551/http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/durableRedirect.pl?%2Fdurable%2F2000%2F05%2F31%2Ffp2s2-csm.shtml

| archive-date = September 4, 2005

| url-status = dead

}} 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 was 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."{{cite web

| url = http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mpdpolicy/7-900/7-900.asp#P94_7168

| title = Policy & Procedure Manual

| publisher = Minneapolis, Minnesota, Police Department

| access-date = June 19, 2006

| archive-date = July 25, 2006

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060725004357/http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mpdpolicy/7-900/7-900.asp#P94_7168

| url-status = dead

}}

According to criminal justice professor Cyndi Banks, the War on Terror, like the War on Drugs, became the context of a significant expansion of SWAT policing.{{cite book

| last1 = Banks

| first1 = Cyndi

| title = Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice

| date = 2016

| publisher = SAGE Publications

| isbn = 978-1-5063-2604-7

}} Whereas some have attributed this expansion to "mission creep" and the militarization of police, other scholars argue that increased SWAT policing is a response to real or perceived moral panics associated with fear of crime and terrorism. Banks writes that SWAT team employment of military veterans has influenced their tactics and perspective.{{rp|33–39}}

Countering the view that post-9/11 SWAT policing represents the militarization of police forces, scholar den Heyer writes that SWAT policing is part of a natural progression towards police professionalization. Den Heyer also argues that while SWAT teams continue to be deployed to execute large numbers of drug warrants, this is a rational use of available police resources.{{rp|39}} Other defenders of SWAT deployments state that police have every reason to minimize risks to themselves during raids.{{rp|39}}

By 2005, the number of yearly SWAT deployments in the United States had increased to 50,000,{{cite book

| last1 = Lippman

| first1 = Matthew

| title = Criminal Procedure

| date = 2013

| publisher = SAGE

| isbn = 978-1-4522-5814-0

}}{{rp|183–4}}{{cite book

| last1 = Fisher

| first1 = James

| title = SWAT Madness and the Militarization of the American Police: A National Dilemma

| date = 2010

| publisher = ABC CLIO

| isbn = 978-0-313-39191-0

}}{{rp|13–14}} most often to serve drug-related warrants in private homes.{{cite book

| last1 = Gaines

| first1 = Larry

| last2 = Miller

| first2 = Roger LeRoy

| title = Criminal Justice in Action

| date = 2016

| publisher = Cengage Learning

| isbn = 978-1-305-85497-0

}}{{rp|205}} According to a study by the ACLU, just under 80% of SWAT deployments were used to serve arrest warrants.{{cite book

| last1 = Stamper

| first1 = Norm

| title = To Protect and Serve: How to Fix America's Police

| date = 2016

| publisher = Nation Books

| isbn = 978-1-56858-541-3

}}

Officers have cited safety as the main reason for use of SWAT teams, stating that SWAT units would frequently be called if there were a possibility a suspect might be armed. For instance, in 2006, only two police officers were killed in the arrest of 2 million drug suspects, a low casualty rate possibly stemming from the military equipment and tactics used in the raids.{{rp|13–14}}

On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with a shooter in the Winnetka neighborhood of Los Angeles led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence.{{cite news

| url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fivedead9feb09,1,5439551.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

| title = Siege in Winnetka, California

| newspaper = Los Angeles Times

| date = February 9, 2008

| access-date = June 5, 2009

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090115134112/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fivedead9feb09,1,5439551.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

| archive-date = January 15, 2009

}}

Radley Balko, an analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute, argued in his book Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America that increased SWAT raids have made no-knock raids, and danger to innocents and suspects, far greater.Radley Balko, [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193652,00.html "In Virginia, the Death Penalty for Gambling"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615051217/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193652,00.html |date=June 15, 2011 }}, Fox News Channel, May 1, 2006 Another study, Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber, also of the Cato Institute, raised concern about the increasing use of SWAT teams for ordinary policing tasks.{{cite web

| url = http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-050es.html

| title = Warrior Cops The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments

| publisher = Cato.org

| date = August 26, 1999

| access-date = June 19, 2012

}}

File:SWAT team approaches building at Fort Hood 2009-11-05.JPG SWAT officers responding to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas]]

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 larger police agencies, SWAT personnel will normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, but the officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

Since officers have to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol duties. To decrease response times to situations that require a SWAT team, it is now a common practice to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers instead of forcing officers to travel to gather their equipment or only use a single dedicated SWAT vehicle.

By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants.{{cite web

| url = http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/850

| title = official website of The Los Angeles Police Department

| publisher = Lapdonline.org

| access-date = June 5, 2009

}} The NYPD's Emergency Service Unit is one of the few police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services in addition to SWAT functions, including search and rescue, and car accident vehicle extrication, 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 Columbine led to changes in police response,{{cite web

| author = CSMonitor.com

| url = http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0531/p2s2.html

| title = Change in tactics: Police trade talk for rapid response

| work = The Christian Science Monitor

| date = May 31, 2000

| access-date = June 5, 2009

}} mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

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.{{cite web

| url = http://www.wicomicosheriff.com/sert.htm

| title = Wicomico County Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (S.E.R.T.)

| work = Wicomico County Sheriff's Office

| year = 2009

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130428025627/http://www.wicomicosheriff.com/sert.htm

| archive-date = April 28, 2013

}} Much of their equipment is indistinguishable from that supplied to the military, not least because much of it is military surplus.{{cite web

| url = http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ferguson-shooting-missouri-swat-teams-armed-m4-assault-rifles-1461507

| title = Ferguson Shooting: Missouri SWAT Teams Armed with M4 Assault Rifles

| work = International Business Times

| date = August 17, 2014

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819222309/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ferguson-shooting-missouri-swat-teams-armed-m4-assault-rifles-1461507

| archive-date = August 19, 2014

}}{{cite web

| url = http://www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/leso/Pages/default.aspx

| title = About the 1033 Program

| work = DLA Disposition Services

| year = 2014

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141209035113/http://www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/leso/Pages/default.aspx

| archive-date = December 9, 2014

}}

File:Active shooter exercise at Navy EOD school 131203-F-oc707-008.jpg SWAT officers wearing different combat uniforms during an active shooter exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in 2013]]

SWAT personnel wear similar uniforms to those worn by military personnel. Traditional SWAT uniforms are usually solid tones of dark blue, black, grey, tan, or olive green, though uniforms with military camouflage have become popular with some SWAT units since the 2000s.{{cite book

| last = Sweeney

| first = Patrick

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Sibal4UgsCMC&pg=PA21

| title = Modern Law Enforcement Weapons & Tactics

| work = Krause Publications

| date = 2004

| page = 21

| publisher = F+W Media

| isbn = 9781440224584

}}

Early SWAT units were equipped with a variety of headgear such as M1 helmets, motorcycle helmets, bump helmets, or even soft patrol caps.{{cite book

| last = Sweeney

| first = Patrick

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Sibal4UgsCMC&pg=PA21

| title = Modern Law Enforcement Weapons & Tactics

| work = Krause Publications

| date = 2004

| page = 23

| publisher = F+W Media

| isbn = 9781440224584

}} Modern SWAT units use helmets similar to those issued by the U.S. military, such as the PASGT helmet or Future Assault Shell Technology helmet, though they may also use riot helmets or soft headgear such as caps. Balaclavas and goggles are often used to protect the face and protect the identities of team members.{{cite book

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xuFZlbJVxc4C&pg=PA43

| title = Tactical Medicine Essentials

| work = American College of Emergency Physicians

| date = 2012

| pages = 43–44

| isbn = 9781449649555

| last3 = Campbell

| first3 = John E.

| last4 = Heiskell

| first4 = Lawrence E.

| publisher = Jones & Bartlett Publishers

}} Ballistic vests, sometimes including rigid plate inserts, are standard-issue. These vests are labelled with "POLICE", "SHERIFF", "SWAT", or similar, to allow for easy identification.{{cite book

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xuFZlbJVxc4C&pg=PA107

| title = Tactical Medicine Essentials

| work = American College of Emergency Physicians

| date = 2012

| pages = 107

| isbn = 9781449649555

| last3 = Campbell

| first3 = John E.

| last4 = Heiskell

| first4 = Lawrence E.

| publisher = Jones & Bartlett Publishers

}}

SWAT units are equipped with special weapons that are not normally used by regular police units, typically military firearms such as assault rifles, submachine guns, riot shotguns, sniper rifles, riot control agents, smoke grenades, stun grenades, and stinger grenades.{{cite book

| last = Sweeney

| first = Patrick

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Sibal4UgsCMC&q=mp-5

| title = Modern Law Enforcement Weapons & Tactics

| work = Krause Publications

| date = 2004

| pages = 198, 227

| publisher = F+W Media

| isbn = 9781440224584

}}{{cite web |date=May 1997 |title=Felon Busters: On The Job With LAPD SWAT |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT53 |work=Popular Mechanics |publisher=Hearst Magazines |pages=53–58}}{{cite web

| url = http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/article_archive/results/details?id=3395

| title = SWAT Round-Up International 2006: Team Insights | Tactical Response Magazine

| publisher = Hendonpub.com

| access-date = June 5, 2009

| archive-date = September 4, 2015

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150904125331/http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/article_archive/results/details?id=3395

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

| url = http://people.howstuffworks.com/swat-team2.htm

| title = HowStuffWorks 'How SWAT Teams Work'

| publisher = People.howstuffworks.com

| access-date = June 5, 2009

| date = January 31, 2007

}}{{cite web

| author = Eden Pastora

| url = http://www.tacticaloperations.com/swatfeb2003/index.html

| title = SWAT February 2003

| publisher = Tacticaloperations.com

| access-date = June 5, 2009

}} Though these armaments make SWAT teams resemble military infantry squads, they are still law enforcement units tasked with arrest, and are thus often also equipped with less-lethal weapons such as tasers, pepper spray, pepperballs, baton rounds, bean bag rounds, and rubber bullets to incapacitate suspects. Many SWAT units also have access to specialized equipment such as ballistic shields, entry tools, battering rams, armored vehicles, thermal and night-vision devices, fiberscope cameras, and motion detectors.{{cite book

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k01_aKN8LkIC&q=%22sting%22+%22tear%22+%22flashbang%22&pg=PA32

| title = SWAT

| publisher = ABDO Publishing Company

| year = 2013

| pages = 12–14

| isbn = 9781614789383

| last1 = Ollhoff

| first1 = Jim

}}

Canine units may also be incorporated within SWAT teams, or may be used on an ad hoc basis.{{cite web

| url = http://www.policemag.com/Blog/SWAT/Story/2009/10/How-to-Coexist-with-a-K-9-Unit.aspx

| title = How to Coexist with a K-9 Unit

| work = POLICE Magazine

| date = October 7, 2009

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100620193823/http://www.policemag.com/Blog/SWAT/Story/2009/10/How-to-Coexist-with-a-K-9-Unit.aspx

| archive-date = June 20, 2010

}}

{{Main|SWAT vehicle}}

File:May 31 2020 Charleston County curfew.png, an infantry mobility vehicle notable for common police use, in Charleston County, South Carolina]]

SWAT units often employ SWAT vehicles, also called "armored rescue vehicles" (ARV),{{cite web

| title = GUIDELINES for ARMORED RESCUE VEHICLES

| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1421340761.html

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105205538/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1421340761.html

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = November 5, 2012

| date = January 1, 2008

| access-date = January 25, 2011

}} for insertion, maneuvering, and during operations such as the rescue of personnel and civilians who may be in danger of receiving fire from suspects if extracted through other methods.{{cite web |date=September 11, 2001 |title=Police Armored Rescue Vehicles: Tactical Rescue Considerations | Tactical Response Magazine |url=http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/articlearchive/details.aspx?ID=207348 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324101756/http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/articlearchive/details.aspx?ID=207348 |archive-date=March 24, 2012 |access-date=June 19, 2012 |publisher=Hendonpub.com}}{{cite web |date=March 1, 2007 |title=L.A. police mark anniversary of infamous shootout that changed policing | National & World News | KATU.com – Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News – Portland, Oregon |url=http://www.katu.com/news/national/6183961.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320014543/http://www.katu.com/news/national/6183961.html |archive-date=March 20, 2012 |access-date=June 19, 2012 |publisher=KATU.com |agency=Associated Press}} Common armored SWAT vehicles include the Lenco BearCat, Lenco BEAR, BAE Caiman, Cadillac Gage Ranger, Cadillac Gage Commando, and similar vehicles.{{cite web |last=Tegler |first=Eric |title=Loaded For Bear: Lenco's Bearcat Is Ready For Duty |url=http://www.autoweek.com/article/20050509/FREE/505090718 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622031246/http://www.autoweek.com/article/20050509/FREE/505090718 |archive-date=June 22, 2011 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=Autoweek.com}}{{cite web |title=Bulletproof |url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/berkshirebusinessoutlook/ci_3609336 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402031236/http://www.berkshireeagle.com/berkshirebusinessoutlook/ci_3609336 |archive-date=April 2, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=Berkshire Eagle Online |first1=Derek |last1=Gentile }}{{cite web |last=Lebovich |first=Jen |date=July 21, 2004 |title=Armored truck newest NYPD weapon |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/boroughs/armored-truck-newest-nypd-weapon-article-1.603178 |access-date=November 9, 2015 |work=Daily News |location=New York |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103002109/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/boroughs/armored-truck-newest-nypd-weapon-article-1.603178 |archive-date= Jan 3, 2016 }}{{cite web |title=TacLink – Washington DC ERT |url=http://www.specwarnet.net/taclink/Police/WA_DC_Metro_ERT.htm |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=Specwarnet.net}}{{cite web |title=FHP Special Activities and Programs |url=http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/html/spec_act.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219011438/http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/html/spec_act.html |archive-date=February 19, 2009 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=Flhsmv.gov}} Some departments use decommissioned, disarmed military vehicles acquired from the Law Enforcement Support Office. Alternatively, SWAT teams may use unmarked police cars to respond faster, provide better mobility when splitting up, or avoid detection.

Police aircraft, commonly helicopters, are used to provide aerial reconnaissance or insertion via rappelling or fast-roping.

The use of armored vehicles by SWAT teams is controversial, and it has been alleged that police armored vehicles escalate situations that could otherwise be resolved peacefully.{{cite book |last1=Iyer |first1=Vikrant |title=Policing in Minority Communities |date=2025 |publisher=Educohack Press |url={{Google books|35lIEQAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes|page=PT99}}|isbn=9789361525209}}{{cite news |last1=Apuzzo |first1=Matt |title=War Gear Flows to Police Departments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html |work=The New York Times |date=8 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609153510/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html |archive-date=9 June 2014 |url-status=dead}} Some smaller police departments and sheriff's departments also acquire armored vehicles despite few incidents occurring in their jurisdictions that would necessitate their use.{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=Steven M. |last2=Massey |first2=David|last3=Koski|first3=Connie M.|last4=Fitch|first4=Brian D.|title=Introduction to Policing |date=2020 |publisher=SAGE Publications |url={{Google books|ZBl7DwAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes|page=PA45}}|isbn=9781544339610 |page=45 |edition=4}}

File:SWAT China.png SWAT officers]]

File:MPS MTW 粤B3891警.jpgChinese Public Security Bureaus use the term "SWAT" ({{Zh|c=特警|p=Tèjǐng|l=Special Police}}, sometimes more specifically referred to as Public Security SWAT({{Zh|c=公安特警|p=Gōng'ān tèjǐng}})), to refer to police tactical units. Outside of counter-terrorism, raids and responding to active shooters, SWAT teams in China also often have extra duties such as riot control, peacekeeping and disaster relief.{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Lu |last2=Chen |first2=Li |date=June 2023 |title=Demystifying China's police tactical units |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756061623000216 |journal=International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice |volume=73 |pages=100595 |doi=10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100595 |access-date=25 April 2025|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |title=南粤春来早-公安练兵忙 |url=http://gdga.gd.gov.cn/jwzx/jwyw/content/post_1089054.html |website=Guangdong PSD}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-05 |title=貴州黔東南公安特警實戰綜合技能大比武 |url=http://gz.people.com.cn/BIG5/n2/2021/1202/c344113-35032678-6.html |website=People's Daily}}{{Cite web |last=Lin |first=Ping |date=2025-05-26 |title=特巡警陈强：三次为国出征，维和期间24小时枪不离身 |trans-title=SWAT officer Chen Qiang: Deployed overseas 3 times, while peacekeeping he held his gun for 24 hours |url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_30880722 |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Paper}} They are also occasionally known as "Patrol SWAT" ({{Zh|c=特巡警|p=Tè xúnjǐng|l=Special patrol police}}).

SWAT vehicles in China are typically colored black.{{Cite web |title=城步公安局举行巡特警大队车辆换装仪式 |url=https://m.voc.com.cn/rmt/article/8363536.html |website=Hunan Daily}} Many SWAT teams in China also perform duties of normal patrol officers when not responding to special incidents.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-16 |title=用这"一分钟" 守护您的每一分钟 |url=https://gaj.shenyang.gov.cn/scjx/jywh/202408/t20240816_4717485.html |website=Shenyang Municipal Public Security Bureau}} In some smaller Public Security Bureaus, SWAT units are also used to handle police dogs.[https://www.daishan.gov.cn/col/col1229792800/index.html 县公安局] [County Public Security Bureau], Daishan County government; retrieved 15 March 2025

Chinese SWAT often train in fast-roping, sniping and pit maneuvering.{{Cite web |date=2019-01-20 |title=全国公安特警维稳处突实战汇报演练：警车漂移 精准狙击 |url=https://m.chinanews.com/wap/detail/zw/sh/2019/01-20/8733921.shtml |website=China News}}

File:Beijing Special Police Force Operators.jpg shotguns]]

Some Chinese prisons also operate Prison SWAT teams ({{Zh|c=监狱特警|s=监狱特警|t=監獄特警|p=Jiānyù tèjǐng}}). They are used to respond to sudden incidents at prisons (e.g. Prison riots), provide security when prisoners go to hospital, patrol duties along with searching for contraband.{{Cite web |date=2021-07-12 |title=监狱特警队员的一天 |url=https://m.thepaper.cn/baijiahao_13544402 |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=The Paper}}{{Cite web |title=直击四川省雅安监狱特警队 |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/m/tp/hd/2017/0905/106585.shtml |website=China News}} In Guangdong, Prison SWAT is also responsible for firefighting within the prison.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-05 |title=燃爆！监狱特警硬核训练大曝光 |url=https://gdjyj.gd.gov.cn/newscenter/gzdt/content/post_4295691.html |website=Guangdong Prison Administrative Bureau}}

In some prisons with Female prisoners, there have been All-Female SWAT teams to handle issues in the Female prison area, most famously at Sichuan Province Qiaowo Prison.{{Cite web | date=2013-08-16|title=直击四川省荞窝监狱女子特警队|url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/tp/hd2011/2013/08-16/236131.shtml|website=Communist Youth league of China}}

• 1973 Brooklyn hostage crisis
• Shannon Street massacre
• 1985 MOVE bombing
• North Hollywood shootout
• 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers
• 2009 shooting of Pittsburgh police officers
• Killing of Aiyana Jones
• Jose Guerena shooting
• 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers
• Killing of Duncan Lemp
• Shooting of Jason Harley Kloepfer
• 2020 deployment of federal forces{{cite news |last1=Dinan |first1=Stephen |title=16 federal agencies sent SWAT teams to deal with protests: Audit |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/10/16-federal-agencies-sent-swat-teams-deal-protests-/ |access-date=11 January 2024 |work=The Washington Times |date=10 September 2020}}{{cite report|title=Federal Tactical Teams: Characteristics, Training, Deployments, and Inventory|date=September 10, 2020|series=GAO-20-710|publisher=United States Government Accountability Office|url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-710.pdf|no-pp=yes|pages=Appendix III: Reported Tactical Team Deployments for Civil Unrest and Protests in May and June 2020: pp. 53–56 |access-date=12 January 2024}}

• Arrest of Fa Ziying (Nanchang SWAT){{Cite web |title=走上杀戮之路：消失的劳荣枝与七人命案始末 |url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5162842 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207095312/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_5162842 |archive-date=2019-12-07 |website=The Paper}}
• United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (Weihai SWAT)
• Disaster relief after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquakes (Shenzhen SWAT){{Cite web |date=2008-06-01 |title=广东省深圳市公安局再次派出235名特警赴四川灾区执行任务 |trans-title=Shenzhen PSB deploys 235 SWAT officers to Sichuan |url=https://www.mps.gov.cn/n2253534/n4904351/c5035456/content.html |access-date= |website=Ministry of Public Security}}
• Yang Jia attacks (Zhabei SWAT){{Cite web |date=2008-07-23 |title=闸北袭警案6位牺牲民警简历 |trans-title=The 6 victims of the Zhabei police attack |url=https://news.ifeng.com/mainland/200807/0723_17_671009.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608185728/http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/200807/0723_17_671009.shtml |archive-date=2019-06-08 |website=Phoenix television}}

• Security during the 2008 Beijing Olympics (Beijing SWAT){{cite web |date=2006-08-10 |title=奥运雪狼：北京奥运反恐训练直击 |script-title= |url=http://finance.sina.com.cn/xiaofei/xfqqsh/20060810/09182808929.shtml |accessdate=2010-03-11 |website=Sina |publisher=21st Century Business Herald |language=Chinese}}
• 2011 Hotan Attack (Hotan SWAT)
• June 2013 Shanshan riots (Shanshan County SWAT){{Cite web |date=2013-06-28 |title=新疆暴力恐怖事件近年回顾：2011年和田击毙14名暴徒 |url=https://www.guancha.cn/indexnews/2013_06_28_154493.shtml |website=Guancha}}
• 2014 Kunming attack (Kunming SWAT){{cite web |date=5 March 2014 |title=Officer tells of fight with terrorists |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-03/05/content_17322967.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103135/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-03/05/content_17322967.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |work=China Daily}}
• 2018 Shangqiu Police-Chengguan clashes (Shangqiu SWAT){{Cite web |date=2018-04-13 |title=河南商丘城管强拆与民警冲突:一城管副大队长被拘 |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2018-04-13/doc-ifyuwqfa0142869.shtml?cre=newspagepc&mod=f&loc=4&r=9&doct=0&rfunc=100 |website=Sina |publisher=The Paper}}

• List of police tactical units
• Emergency Service Unit
• Special reaction team (U.S. military police)
• SWAT World Challenge
• Militarization of police
• Riot police

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Special Weapons and Tactics in the United States}}

• [http://www.ntoa.org/ NTOA.org] The National Tactical Officers Association, a national organization of tactical professionals.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130312022924/http://www.itota.net/ ITOTA.net] The International Tactical Officers Training Association, an international organization of tactical professionals

Category:1968 establishments in California

Category:History of Los Angeles

Category:Law enforcement in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1968

Category:Paramilitary police

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