Police Academy class #4
So last night's class was all about the SWAT team. Woot! I've been a fan of the TV series SWAT for ages, and in fact, one of my ringtones on my phone is the theme song. :-)
Here's what I learned:
• Our county's SWAT team was formed in 1979 and in the hundreds and hundreds of "missions" they've been on, they've never once shot and killed anyone
• The component "teams" within SWAT are: Tactical, Negotiator, Intelligence and Communications
• Their "missions" include: armed and barricaded suspects, hostage situations, high risk search and arrest warrants (drug raids and violent offenders), crowd control and VIP security
• They train under the motto "Speed, Surprise and the Violence of Action"
• Sniper is no longer a "politically correct" term, so they are called Forward Observers now. Our sergeant is a sniper on the SWAT team.
• The SWAT team has two armored vehicles called Bert and Ernie. (I kid you not!)
• We got to handle some of their weapons: a Glock, an MP5 (semi and full automatic capable), an M16 (full auto) and the sniper rifle. Now I've handled handguns and rifles before, but holy cow was that sniper rifle heavy! We also got to put on some of their gear (armored vest, helmet, etc) and all together it weighs over 80 lbs!
Overall it was another great class and I'm looking forward to next week!
Here's what I learned:
• Our county's SWAT team was formed in 1979 and in the hundreds and hundreds of "missions" they've been on, they've never once shot and killed anyone
• The component "teams" within SWAT are: Tactical, Negotiator, Intelligence and Communications
• Their "missions" include: armed and barricaded suspects, hostage situations, high risk search and arrest warrants (drug raids and violent offenders), crowd control and VIP security
• They train under the motto "Speed, Surprise and the Violence of Action"
• Sniper is no longer a "politically correct" term, so they are called Forward Observers now. Our sergeant is a sniper on the SWAT team.
• The SWAT team has two armored vehicles called Bert and Ernie. (I kid you not!)
• We got to handle some of their weapons: a Glock, an MP5 (semi and full automatic capable), an M16 (full auto) and the sniper rifle. Now I've handled handguns and rifles before, but holy cow was that sniper rifle heavy! We also got to put on some of their gear (armored vest, helmet, etc) and all together it weighs over 80 lbs!
Overall it was another great class and I'm looking forward to next week!