Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Swat shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Swat offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Swat at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Swat? Wrong! If the Swat is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Swat then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Swat? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Swat and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Swat wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Swat then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Swat site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Swat, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Swat, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Military Unit|unit_name=Special Weapons And Tactics|image=|caption=|dates=1960s–Present]|branch=|command_structure=|type=|role=Domestic Counter-terrorism and Police|size=|current_commander=|garrison=|ceremonial_chief=|ceremonial_chief_label=|colonel_of_the_regiment=|nickname=|motto=|colors=|identification_symbol=|identification_symbol_label=|march=|mascot=|battles=|notable_commanders=|anniversaries=-->SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) is a specialized paramilitary Military tactics unit in many municipal police departments, usually in the United States. They are trained to perform dangerous operations which can include serving high-risk arrest warrants, performing hostage rescue and armed intervention, preventing terrorist attacks, and engaging heavily armed criminals.

SWAT teams are equipped with specialized firearms, including submachine guns, shotguns, carbines, riot control agents, stun grenades, and high-powered rifles for Marksman (snipers). The teams often have specialized equipment, including heavy Ballistic vest, entry tools, armored vehicles, steel reinforced boots and night vision optics.

Other law enforcement agencies, both in the US and around the world, also have similar paramilitary units. However, SWAT specifically refers to tactical units attached at the municipal level. The term special weapons and tactics unit has also become somewhat generic, and sometimes includes some patrol officers trained and equipped to respond to violent threats.

History William E. Fairbairn and the Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy (S.M.P.) originally pioneered the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) concept in the 1920s. Although many know about Fairbairn's work with Special Forces units in World War II, he was primarily a police officer who used his knowledge of close combat martial arts to fight the war on crime. The SMP established the Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy under Fairbairn's command to deal with riots, urban guerrillas, and terrorists in Shanghai.

During the 1920s Shanghai was the most dangerous city in the world. The Green Gang, a secret society similar to the Sicilian mafia, controlled all the crime in the coastal city. They were brutal enforcers who had no compunction about killing civilians or police officers. Murders became such a common occurrence that they stopped being front page news, and kidnapping for profit became its own industry. Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy even attacked a police station, but after lethal force was used, the Shanghai Municipal Council ordered the police force to improve how it handled street fights.

The new unit was called the Reserve Unit, or Riot Squad, because it was held in reserve until a high risk incident occurred. During its thirty-year history, the new unit was the first group to use such equipment as automatic weapons, carbines, and high-powered rifles.

It was also the first group to use chemical agents, body armor, and forcible entry tools. It even used Harley-Davidson motorcycles with machine guns mounted on the sidecars.

As a training aid, Fairbairn built a model city named "Wee-Burg," so he could better plan dangerous operations in built-up areas. Reserve Officer Eric Anthony Sykes, who worked as an agent for Remington and Colt in China, formed the first counter-sniper teams for urban warfare. And Fairbairn, as an expert in several martial arts, taught his men defendu, a jujutsu-based hand-to-hand combat technique that proved so effective it was eventually taught to every member of the police force.

The first special weapons and tactics unit was developed by the SMP, and the lessons learned in bloody gun battles and brutal street fights helped countless police officers and soldiers in WWII and beyond.

Although military units have been used to quell riots for millennia, the first recorded implementation of civilian SWAT in the United States was employed by the Delano, California when, in 1965, they followed William E. Fairbairn in response to the demonstrations revolving around the UFW (United Farm Workers Union) and their activities in and around the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the great San Joaquin Valley, far north of Los Angeles. Caesar Chavez' United Farm Workers were staging numerous, often violent, protests in Delano, both at cold storage facilities and in front of non-supportive farm worker's private homes on their sidewalks and city streets. Delano PD answered the issues that arose by forming the first-ever U.S. civilian units using special tactics and weapons. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these riotous and violent events across the nation. {{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 1 September| accessyear = 2007-->

Having seen the news broadcasts of the riots and police controls employed by the Delano PD, personnel from the LAPD contacted Delano PD and inquired about the program. One officer obtained permission to observe Delano police department's special weapons and tactics in action, and afterwards took what he'd learned back to Los Angeles where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form their first SWAT unit.

Los Angeles Police Department SWAT PatchLAPD Officer John Nelson (LAPD officer) came up with the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit inside the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Then Inspector, and later Chief of Police, Daryl Gates approved his idea, and a small select group of volunteer officers was formed. This first SWAT unit was initially constituted with fifteen teams of four men each, for a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits. They were required to attend special monthly training. This 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]| accessdaymonth = 19 June| accessyear = 2006-->

In Gates’ autobiography, Chief: My Life in the LAPD (Bantam Books, 1992), he explained that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor its distinctive equipment, and that he wanted to name the platoon “Special Weapons Assault Team”. However, that name was turned down by his boss, then-deputy police chief Edward M. Davis. Gates wrote that he supported the concept, tried to empower his people to develop the concept, and lent them moral support. {{cite web| url = http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/849| title = Development of SWAT| publisher = Los Angeles Police Department in [1974, offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. {{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 19 June | accessyear=2006-->

On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. This includes riots such as the Watts Riots which in the 1960s forced police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared, the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order, the appearance of the political assassin, and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. “The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increases the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerillas.” 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.”

Today special weapons and tactics units are ubiquitous, and even patrol officers are being trained and equipped so they can immediately respond to threats.

SWAT duties SWAT duties include:

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panther Party. The Panthers finally surrendered, with only three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of a group which called itself the "Symbionese Liberation Army" (SLA), a group of heavily-armed Left-wing politicss, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Police units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and fully automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,772 rounds fired by the SLA, no uninvolved citizens or police officers sustained injury from gunfire.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds and perished in the ensuing blaze.By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of 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 high-power anti-sniper rifle (apparently a .243-caliber bolt-action, judging from 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. The normal gear issued them included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. In fact it was a change just to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles, at a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns. The encounter with the heavily-armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued Ballistic vest and Automatic firearm weapons of various types.

The Columbine High School Columbine High School massacre in 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As noted in an article in the The Christian Science Monitor, “nstead 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 followong the Columbine High School Massacre| publisher = Christian Science Monitor 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, Minnesota, Minnesota, 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| accessdaymonth = 19 June| accessyear = 2006-->

With this shift in police response, SWAT units remain in demand for their traditional roles as hostage rescue, counter-terrorist operations, and serving high-risk warrants.

Organization The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers can not be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties (such as the Manteca Police Department in California), but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, cell phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles - specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers wouldn’t be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

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. This would seem to average to about one call every other day, but considering the 24-hour a day availability of police work, this means a lot of time between calls.

The New York Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit is one of the few civilian police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services, including rescue and search functions 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 the 1999 Columbine High School Columbine High School massacre has led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

Training Special Response TeamSWAT officers are selected from volunteers within their law enforcement organization. Depending on the department's policy, officers generally have to serve a minimum tenure within the department before being able to apply for a specialist section such as SWAT. This tenure requirement is based on the fact that SWAT officers are still law enforcement officers and must have a thorough knowledge of department policies and procedures.

SWAT applicants undergo rigorous selection and training, similar to the training some special operations units in the military receive. Applicants must pass stringent physical agility, written, oral, and psychological testing to ensure they are not only fit enough but also psychologically suited for tactical operations.

In addition, applicants must successfully pass a stringent background investigation and job performance review. Emphasis is placed on physical fitness so an officer will be able to withstand the rigors of tactical operations. After an officer has been selected, the potential member must undertake and pass numerous specialist courses that will make him or her a fully qualified SWAT operator. Officers are trained in marksmanship for the development of accurate shooting skills, although the use of firearms is considered a last resort in law enforcement. Other training that could be given to potential members includes training in explosives, sniper-training, first-aid, negotiation, handling Police dog units, abseiling (rappelling) and roping techniques and the use of specialized weapons and equipment. They are also trained specifically in the handling and use of special ammunition such as Flexible baton round, flash bang grenades, Tasers, and the use of crowd control methods, and special less-lethal munitions. Of primary importance is close-quarters defensive tactics training, as this will be the primary mission upon becoming a full-fledged SWAT officer.

, the standard-issue sidearm for US military forces.

SWAT equipment 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.

Clothing and Tools Individual clothing and equipment usually consists of fire-resistant Nomex/Teijinconex coveralls or flightsuits, or BDUs (battle dress uniform), if need be, a body armor vest with Aramid or Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, an outer tactical load bearing vest (Omega style vest, LBV, or Plate Carrier to right: Omega vests are being used) for carrying ammunition and specialist gear and equipment, Nomex or other tactical gloves, balaclava or protective face covering (not always), protective eye goggles, Twaron/Kevlar helmet (PASGT) and/or gas mask, flashlight (usually a Surefire or similar brand), combat steel reinforced boots, flexicuffs, and thigh ammo/utility pouches and/or holsters. They often use drop leg holsters, while some officers prefer hip mounted holsters.

Weapons While a wide variety of weapons are used by SWAT teams, the most common weapons include submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

Tactical aids include flashbang, Hand grenade#Sting Grenades and tear gas grenades.

Semi-automatic Pistol are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to: Glock series, M1911 pistol series, Sig Sauer series (especially the Sig P226 and Sig P228) Berretta M9 series, and H&K USP series.

Popular submachine guns used by SWAT teams include the 9 mm Luger Parabellum Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch MP5 and 10 mm Auto Heckler & Koch MP5#MP5 models (used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue Team and by United States Capitol Police), with or without suppressors, and, to a lesser degree, Mac-10s. The H&K UMP is replacing the MP5 more and more due to its higher calibre. Other common SMGs (sub machine guns) are the FN P90 and the H&K MP5/10 (sometimes wrongly referred as the MP10) (see H&K MP5 variants), which is a MP5 with a larger calibre round.

Some of the shot guns used are the Benelli M3, SPAS-12, and the M1100 shotgun.

Common rifles include the M4 Carbine; such carbines or compact assault rifles are favoured since they retain the penetration power of their full-sized cousins but are lighter and easier to handle to CQB. The M16 rifle is not too commonly used, but can be found used by Marksmen or SWAT officers when a longer ranged weapon is needed. The H&K G3 series is also favored among Marksmen or snipers, as well as the M14. Many different variants of bolt action rifles have been seen as well being used by SWAT.

To breach doors quickly, battering rams, shotguns, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many less-lethal munitions and weapons. These include Electroshock weapon, pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with Flexible baton round rounds, and Pepperball guns. Pepperball guns are essentially paintball markers loaded with balls containing Oleoresin Capsicum ("pepper spray").

Vehicles Well-funded SWAT units may also employ armored SWAT vans for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians/officers pinned down by gunfire. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles.

Recon For tactical reconnaissance purposes, a team may be equipped with binoculars, HFOs (known by brand names such as the Viper, as used by the Los Angeles Police Department), thermographic cameras, or a variety of audio or video surveillance equipment. In nighttime or low-light operations, SWAT units may be equipped with night-vision goggles. Mirrors on extension poles, for looking around corners while not putting an officer directly in the line of fire, are amongst some of the more unusual and ad-hoc device used by teams to deal with unique situations.

SWAT in popular culture This kind of police unit quickly became well known with the premiere of the short-lived but notorious television series S.W.A.T. (TV series) in the 1970s. The show was panned as being overly violent and unrealistic, though its considered mild by today's standards, with the characters regularly undergoing missions that usually happen only once in a lifetime for actual teams. It was cancelled in the later episodes of the series, due to the violence of the program.

The SWAT Series of computer games by Sierra Entertainment and developed by Vivendi Universal and Irrational Games started off as an interactive movie followup of the Police Quest series which was narrated by retired Chief Daryl Gates, and was continued as a real-time strategy game and two first person shooters in the vein of Rainbow Six (computer game). All but one featured endorsements by the LAPD.

During the 1990s, there was also a cartoon TV show called SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron.

In 2003, the movie S.W.A.T. (film) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell was released in theaters as an update of the TV series.

In 2005, a television show debuted on A&E Network entitled Dallas SWAT, documenting the personal and professional lives of SWAT officers of the Dallas, Texas Police Department. The television show is now being shown on Court TV and in 2006 A&E is debuting both Kansas City and Detroit SWAT.

The British comic Viz (comics) once ran a spoof strip called SWANT (Special Weapons And No Tactics) involving a disastrous SWAT team.

The Danish TV Channel TV2 Zulu, ran a show called "P.I.S. - Politiets Indsatsstyrke" which was a Mockumentary, about a danish SWAT team. It follows their training, missions and personal lifes. This team unfortunatly kills of new team members in a rapid speed, makes false arrests, makes fatal decisions and is set to take down meat-terrorists. But at the end of the day it all ends well with a beer at the local pub.

A SWAT unit is featured at the end of the movie The Blues Brothers (1980), involved in the arrest of Jake and Elwood Blues, along with state troopers, the military, the fire brigade, the mounted police, the Chicago Police Department, etc. They pursue the brothers in the Cook County Building, leading the pursuit by all the armed forces throughout the building stairwells. The obvious irony of the whole sequence is that one of the missions of the SWAT teams are to arrest heavily armed, dangerous, criminals while the Blues brothers carry no weapons at all and are but only petty criminal offenders.

Up to and including the 1980s, movies that featured SWAT units (such as the Die Hard series) portrayed them as carrying M16 Rifles and wearing black clothing/armour, however they did not have protective helmets, goggles, or visors. By the 1990s, SWAT officers were typically depicted in full protection with helmets and eye protection (goggles or visors), balaclava, and carrying MP5 submachine guns, with the occasional member carrying a rifle/carbine or shotgun. Since the 2000s, movies less regularly show SWAT wearing balaclava and eye protection (such as Swordfish and SWAT 2003), as it would have made them completely anonymous.

Controversies The use of SWAT teams in non-emergency situations has been criticized.Steve Macko, "SWAT: Is it being used too much?", Emergency Response and Research Institute, July 15, 1997 In 2006, a SWAT team served a warrant on Salvatore Culosi, a 37-year old optometrist in the Fair Oaks section of Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C., who was accused of sports gambling; the attempted arrest ended with his accidental death.Tom Jackman, "Va. Officer Might Be Suspended For Fatality", Washington Post, November 25, 2006 The officer who was responsible, Deval V. Bullock, was suspended for three weeks without pay. "A Tragedy of Errors", Washington Post, November 25, 2006 One notable critic is Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, author of Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.Radley Balko, "In Virginia, the Death Penalty for Gambling", Fox News, May 1, 2006 The Salvatore Culosi incident is but one of several hundred "botched" SWAT raids recorded by the CATO institute in its Google Maps Mashup (web application hybrid) displaying the locations of incidents across the USA, such as the death of an innocent suspect or Officer. http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

SWAT and other units in the United States 60th Security Forces Squadron SWAT Team, Travis Air Force Base, California, USA

Though initially confined to metropolitan cities, today virtually every city with a police force in excess of a handful of officers has a paramilitary tactical unit. A variety of abbreviations and acronyms are used for these organizations, which operate at federal, state, and local levels. Most known examples are: United States Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Teams(EST)

Similar units outside the United States North America

South America

Europe

Middle East

Africa

Asia/Pacific

Australasia (Oceania)

See also

References

External links

{{Infobox Military Unit|unit_name=Special Weapons And Tactics|image=|caption=|dates=1960s–Present]|branch=|command_structure=|type=|role=Domestic Counter-terrorism and Police|size=|current_commander=|garrison=|ceremonial_chief=|ceremonial_chief_label=|colonel_of_the_regiment=|nickname=|motto=|colors=|identification_symbol=|identification_symbol_label=|march=|mascot=|battles=|notable_commanders=|anniversaries=-->SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) is a specialized paramilitary Military tactics unit in many municipal police departments, usually in the United States. They are trained to perform dangerous operations which can include serving high-risk arrest warrants, performing hostage rescue and armed intervention, preventing terrorist attacks, and engaging heavily armed criminals.

SWAT teams are equipped with specialized firearms, including submachine guns, shotguns, carbines, riot control agents, stun grenades, and high-powered rifles for Marksman (snipers). The teams often have specialized equipment, including heavy Ballistic vest, entry tools, armored vehicles, steel reinforced boots and night vision optics.

Other law enforcement agencies, both in the US and around the world, also have similar paramilitary units. However, SWAT specifically refers to tactical units attached at the municipal level. The term special weapons and tactics unit has also become somewhat generic, and sometimes includes some patrol officers trained and equipped to respond to violent threats.

History William E. Fairbairn and the Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy (S.M.P.) originally pioneered the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) concept in the 1920s. Although many know about Fairbairn's work with Special Forces units in World War II, he was primarily a police officer who used his knowledge of close combat martial arts to fight the war on crime. The SMP established the Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy under Fairbairn's command to deal with riots, urban guerrillas, and terrorists in Shanghai.

During the 1920s Shanghai was the most dangerous city in the world. The Green Gang, a secret society similar to the Sicilian mafia, controlled all the crime in the coastal city. They were brutal enforcers who had no compunction about killing civilians or police officers. Murders became such a common occurrence that they stopped being front page news, and kidnapping for profit became its own industry. Shanghai Municipal Police#Legacy even attacked a police station, but after lethal force was used, the Shanghai Municipal Council ordered the police force to improve how it handled street fights.

The new unit was called the Reserve Unit, or Riot Squad, because it was held in reserve until a high risk incident occurred. During its thirty-year history, the new unit was the first group to use such equipment as automatic weapons, carbines, and high-powered rifles.

It was also the first group to use chemical agents, body armor, and forcible entry tools. It even used Harley-Davidson motorcycles with machine guns mounted on the sidecars.

As a training aid, Fairbairn built a model city named "Wee-Burg," so he could better plan dangerous operations in built-up areas. Reserve Officer Eric Anthony Sykes, who worked as an agent for Remington and Colt in China, formed the first counter-sniper teams for urban warfare. And Fairbairn, as an expert in several martial arts, taught his men defendu, a jujutsu-based hand-to-hand combat technique that proved so effective it was eventually taught to every member of the police force.

The first special weapons and tactics unit was developed by the SMP, and the lessons learned in bloody gun battles and brutal street fights helped countless police officers and soldiers in WWII and beyond.

Although military units have been used to quell riots for millennia, the first recorded implementation of civilian SWAT in the United States was employed by the Delano, California when, in 1965, they followed William E. Fairbairn in response to the demonstrations revolving around the UFW (United Farm Workers Union) and their activities in and around the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the great San Joaquin Valley, far north of Los Angeles. Caesar Chavez' United Farm Workers were staging numerous, often violent, protests in Delano, both at cold storage facilities and in front of non-supportive farm worker's private homes on their sidewalks and city streets. Delano PD answered the issues that arose by forming the first-ever U.S. civilian units using special tactics and weapons. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these riotous and violent events across the nation. {{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 1 September| accessyear = 2007-->

Having seen the news broadcasts of the riots and police controls employed by the Delano PD, personnel from the LAPD contacted Delano PD and inquired about the program. One officer obtained permission to observe Delano police department's special weapons and tactics in action, and afterwards took what he'd learned back to Los Angeles where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form their first SWAT unit.

Los Angeles Police Department SWAT PatchLAPD Officer John Nelson (LAPD officer) came up with the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit inside the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Then Inspector, and later Chief of Police, Daryl Gates approved his idea, and a small select group of volunteer officers was formed. This first SWAT unit was initially constituted with fifteen teams of four men each, for a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits. They were required to attend special monthly training. This 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]| accessdaymonth = 19 June| accessyear = 2006-->

In Gates’ autobiography, Chief: My Life in the LAPD (Bantam Books, 1992), he explained that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor its distinctive equipment, and that he wanted to name the platoon “Special Weapons Assault Team”. However, that name was turned down by his boss, then-deputy police chief Edward M. Davis. Gates wrote that he supported the concept, tried to empower his people to develop the concept, and lent them moral support. {{cite web| url = http://www.lapdonline.org/metropolitan_division/content_basic_view/849| title = Development of SWAT| publisher = Los Angeles Police Department in [1974, offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. {{cite web]| accessdaymonth = 19 June | accessyear=2006-->

On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. This includes riots such as the Watts Riots which in the 1960s forced police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared, the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order, the appearance of the political assassin, and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. “The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increases the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerillas.” 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.”

Today special weapons and tactics units are ubiquitous, and even patrol officers are being trained and equipped so they can immediately respond to threats.

SWAT duties SWAT duties include:

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panther Party. The Panthers finally surrendered, with only three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of a group which called itself the "Symbionese Liberation Army" (SLA), a group of heavily-armed Left-wing politicss, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Police units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and fully automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,772 rounds fired by the SLA, no uninvolved citizens or police officers sustained injury from gunfire.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds and perished in the ensuing blaze.By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of 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 high-power anti-sniper rifle (apparently a .243-caliber bolt-action, judging from 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. The normal gear issued them included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. In fact it was a change just to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles, at a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns. The encounter with the heavily-armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued Ballistic vest and Automatic firearm weapons of various types.

The Columbine High School Columbine High School massacre in 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As noted in an article in the The Christian Science Monitor, “nstead 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 followong the Columbine High School Massacre| publisher = Christian Science Monitor 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, Minnesota, Minnesota, 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| accessdaymonth = 19 June| accessyear = 2006-->

With this shift in police response, SWAT units remain in demand for their traditional roles as hostage rescue, counter-terrorist operations, and serving high-risk warrants.

Organization The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers can not be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties (such as the Manteca Police Department in California), but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, cell phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles - specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers wouldn’t be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

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. This would seem to average to about one call every other day, but considering the 24-hour a day availability of police work, this means a lot of time between calls.

The New York Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit is one of the few civilian police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services, including rescue and search functions 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 the 1999 Columbine High School Columbine High School massacre has led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

Training Special Response TeamSWAT officers are selected from volunteers within their law enforcement organization. Depending on the department's policy, officers generally have to serve a minimum tenure within the department before being able to apply for a specialist section such as SWAT. This tenure requirement is based on the fact that SWAT officers are still law enforcement officers and must have a thorough knowledge of department policies and procedures.

SWAT applicants undergo rigorous selection and training, similar to the training some special operations units in the military receive. Applicants must pass stringent physical agility, written, oral, and psychological testing to ensure they are not only fit enough but also psychologically suited for tactical operations.

In addition, applicants must successfully pass a stringent background investigation and job performance review. Emphasis is placed on physical fitness so an officer will be able to withstand the rigors of tactical operations. After an officer has been selected, the potential member must undertake and pass numerous specialist courses that will make him or her a fully qualified SWAT operator. Officers are trained in marksmanship for the development of accurate shooting skills, although the use of firearms is considered a last resort in law enforcement. Other training that could be given to potential members includes training in explosives, sniper-training, first-aid, negotiation, handling Police dog units, abseiling (rappelling) and roping techniques and the use of specialized weapons and equipment. They are also trained specifically in the handling and use of special ammunition such as Flexible baton round, flash bang grenades, Tasers, and the use of crowd control methods, and special less-lethal munitions. Of primary importance is close-quarters defensive tactics training, as this will be the primary mission upon becoming a full-fledged SWAT officer.

, the standard-issue sidearm for US military forces.

SWAT equipment 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.

Clothing and Tools Individual clothing and equipment usually consists of fire-resistant Nomex/Teijinconex coveralls or flightsuits, or BDUs (battle dress uniform), if need be, a body armor vest with Aramid or Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, an outer tactical load bearing vest (Omega style vest, LBV, or Plate Carrier to right: Omega vests are being used) for carrying ammunition and specialist gear and equipment, Nomex or other tactical gloves, balaclava or protective face covering (not always), protective eye goggles, Twaron/Kevlar helmet (PASGT) and/or gas mask, flashlight (usually a Surefire or similar brand), combat steel reinforced boots, flexicuffs, and thigh ammo/utility pouches and/or holsters. They often use drop leg holsters, while some officers prefer hip mounted holsters.

Weapons While a wide variety of weapons are used by SWAT teams, the most common weapons include submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

Tactical aids include flashbang, Hand grenade#Sting Grenades and tear gas grenades.

Semi-automatic Pistol are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to: Glock series, M1911 pistol series, Sig Sauer series (especially the Sig P226 and Sig P228) Berretta M9 series, and H&K USP series.

Popular submachine guns used by SWAT teams include the 9 mm Luger Parabellum Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch MP5 and 10 mm Auto Heckler & Koch MP5#MP5 models (used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Rescue Team and by United States Capitol Police), with or without suppressors, and, to a lesser degree, Mac-10s. The H&K UMP is replacing the MP5 more and more due to its higher calibre. Other common SMGs (sub machine guns) are the FN P90 and the H&K MP5/10 (sometimes wrongly referred as the MP10) (see H&K MP5 variants), which is a MP5 with a larger calibre round.

Some of the shot guns used are the Benelli M3, SPAS-12, and the M1100 shotgun.

Common rifles include the M4 Carbine; such carbines or compact assault rifles are favoured since they retain the penetration power of their full-sized cousins but are lighter and easier to handle to CQB. The M16 rifle is not too commonly used, but can be found used by Marksmen or SWAT officers when a longer ranged weapon is needed. The H&K G3 series is also favored among Marksmen or snipers, as well as the M14. Many different variants of bolt action rifles have been seen as well being used by SWAT.

To breach doors quickly, battering rams, shotguns, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many less-lethal munitions and weapons. These include Electroshock weapon, pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with Flexible baton round rounds, and Pepperball guns. Pepperball guns are essentially paintball markers loaded with balls containing Oleoresin Capsicum ("pepper spray").

Vehicles Well-funded SWAT units may also employ armored SWAT vans for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians/officers pinned down by gunfire. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles.

Recon For tactical reconnaissance purposes, a team may be equipped with binoculars, HFOs (known by brand names such as the Viper, as used by the Los Angeles Police Department), thermographic cameras, or a variety of audio or video surveillance equipment. In nighttime or low-light operations, SWAT units may be equipped with night-vision goggles. Mirrors on extension poles, for looking around corners while not putting an officer directly in the line of fire, are amongst some of the more unusual and ad-hoc device used by teams to deal with unique situations.

SWAT in popular culture This kind of police unit quickly became well known with the premiere of the short-lived but notorious television series S.W.A.T. (TV series) in the 1970s. The show was panned as being overly violent and unrealistic, though its considered mild by today's standards, with the characters regularly undergoing missions that usually happen only once in a lifetime for actual teams. It was cancelled in the later episodes of the series, due to the violence of the program.

The SWAT Series of computer games by Sierra Entertainment and developed by Vivendi Universal and Irrational Games started off as an interactive movie followup of the Police Quest series which was narrated by retired Chief Daryl Gates, and was continued as a real-time strategy game and two first person shooters in the vein of Rainbow Six (computer game). All but one featured endorsements by the LAPD.

During the 1990s, there was also a cartoon TV show called SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron.

In 2003, the movie S.W.A.T. (film) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell was released in theaters as an update of the TV series.

In 2005, a television show debuted on A&E Network entitled Dallas SWAT, documenting the personal and professional lives of SWAT officers of the Dallas, Texas Police Department. The television show is now being shown on Court TV and in 2006 A&E is debuting both Kansas City and Detroit SWAT.

The British comic Viz (comics) once ran a spoof strip called SWANT (Special Weapons And No Tactics) involving a disastrous SWAT team.

The Danish TV Channel TV2 Zulu, ran a show called "P.I.S. - Politiets Indsatsstyrke" which was a Mockumentary, about a danish SWAT team. It follows their training, missions and personal lifes. This team unfortunatly kills of new team members in a rapid speed, makes false arrests, makes fatal decisions and is set to take down meat-terrorists. But at the end of the day it all ends well with a beer at the local pub.

A SWAT unit is featured at the end of the movie The Blues Brothers (1980), involved in the arrest of Jake and Elwood Blues, along with state troopers, the military, the fire brigade, the mounted police, the Chicago Police Department, etc. They pursue the brothers in the Cook County Building, leading the pursuit by all the armed forces throughout the building stairwells. The obvious irony of the whole sequence is that one of the missions of the SWAT teams are to arrest heavily armed, dangerous, criminals while the Blues brothers carry no weapons at all and are but only petty criminal offenders.

Up to and including the 1980s, movies that featured SWAT units (such as the Die Hard series) portrayed them as carrying M16 Rifles and wearing black clothing/armour, however they did not have protective helmets, goggles, or visors. By the 1990s, SWAT officers were typically depicted in full protection with helmets and eye protection (goggles or visors), balaclava, and carrying MP5 submachine guns, with the occasional member carrying a rifle/carbine or shotgun. Since the 2000s, movies less regularly show SWAT wearing balaclava and eye protection (such as Swordfish and SWAT 2003), as it would have made them completely anonymous.

Controversies The use of SWAT teams in non-emergency situations has been criticized.Steve Macko, "SWAT: Is it being used too much?", Emergency Response and Research Institute, July 15, 1997 In 2006, a SWAT team served a warrant on Salvatore Culosi, a 37-year old optometrist in the Fair Oaks section of Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C., who was accused of sports gambling; the attempted arrest ended with his accidental death.Tom Jackman, "Va. Officer Might Be Suspended For Fatality", Washington Post, November 25, 2006 The officer who was responsible, Deval V. Bullock, was suspended for three weeks without pay. "A Tragedy of Errors", Washington Post, November 25, 2006 One notable critic is Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, author of Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.Radley Balko, "In Virginia, the Death Penalty for Gambling", Fox News, May 1, 2006 The Salvatore Culosi incident is but one of several hundred "botched" SWAT raids recorded by the CATO institute in its Google Maps Mashup (web application hybrid) displaying the locations of incidents across the USA, such as the death of an innocent suspect or Officer. http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

SWAT and other units in the United States 60th Security Forces Squadron SWAT Team, Travis Air Force Base, California, USA

Though initially confined to metropolitan cities, today virtually every city with a police force in excess of a handful of officers has a paramilitary tactical unit. A variety of abbreviations and acronyms are used for these organizations, which operate at federal, state, and local levels. Most known examples are: United States Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Teams(EST)

Similar units outside the United States North America

South America

Europe

Middle East

Africa

Asia/Pacific

Australasia (Oceania)

See also

References

External links



SWATuk - Accountancy training and compliance support to help ...
Welcome to SWAT UK! SWAT UK  is at the forefront of accountancy training and technical support for the accountancy profession. As well as providing CPD training for accountants, our ...

BBC - Breathing Places - SWAT
Take a look at some great SWAT video clips. If you'd like to see more tune into BBC2 on Wednesday 18th June, 2:05pm.

SWAT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) is an elite unit in many American police departments, which is trained to perform exceptionally dangerous, high-risk, counter-terrorism ...

Swat (Pakistan) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swat (Pashto / Urdu: سوات) is a valley and a district in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. The capital is Saidu Sharif. With high mountains, green meadows ...

SWAT :: Stop Wickham Animal Testing
Stop Wickham Animal Testing ... Posted by: SWAT on Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 11:37 AM : International Animal Rights Day - 10 December '07.

SWAT: Summary for SECURITY WITH ADV TE - Yahoo! Finance
Get detailed information on SECURITY WITH ADV TE (SWAT) including quote performance, Real-Time ECN, technical chart analysis, key stats, insider transactions, and the latest ...

SWAT Malaria - an AMREF Campaign
The more recruits we have, the higher our chances of winning this war against Malaria. Tell your friends about SWAT Why earn SWAT Points?

Team SWAT Online - Martial Arts, UK Health & Fitness - Personal ...
Practical advice on healthy eating and an active lifestyle, combining a balanced diet with exercise of either a martial art or aerobic nature.

SWAT: Soil & Water Assessment Tool
Software. SWAT Model; AVSWAT; ArcSWAT; MWSWAT; VizSWAT; Conversion Program; SWAT Input Checker Program; Potential Heat Unit Program; Baseflow Filter Program; Links to Related ...

Sierra: SWAT - Video Games
Official site includes news, reviews, game overview, online manual and walkthrough, demo, downloads, modifications, tools, forum, and links.

 

Swat



 
Copyright © 2008 Hintcenter.com - All rights reserved.
Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
All Trademarks belong to their repective owners. Many aspects of this page are used under
commercial commons license from Yahoo!