Your rank or position can command compliance, but it doesn’t make you a leader – others deem you to be a leader because of the totality of your character
SWAT is a specialized unit and those selected to be members of that unit should be special people who possess extraordinary skills and abilities
We use flashlights in many situations and depending on how and when we use them, they can either help us or make us a target
First responders need to open lines of communication and share knowledge, experience and resources so we can coalesce all of our assets
Such training can mimic the stressors officers face when they have to enter a structure in a possibly lethal environment
Law enforcement personnel need to be able to treat themselves and their partners if and when disaster strikes
SWAT officers realize that their experience on a SWAT team makes them a better overall police officer
Agencies across the country have adopted policies and procedures to train and equip line officers for situations that have customarily been reserved for SWAT teams
All SWAT officers should use pre-mission visualization and try to plan for every contingency – both as a team and as individual SWAT operators – because it can mean the difference between life and death
Unfortunately, many patrol rifle programs are insufficient in preparing officers to have the confidence and skills to properly and effectively deploy their rifles during stressful engagements
We must create the proper environment in order for officers to visualize the true threat that is ever present and be prepared physically and mentally to prevail
Whether or not you’re part of a SWAT team, at some point all LEOs — from narcotics to investigations to patrol — enter structures with the intent to locate suspects
BearCats, pole cameras, robots and thermal imagers are just a few of the technological advances that help SWAT teams accomplish their missions
The diversity of your program and the frequency in which officers have the ability to be challenged is what will make the difference, not some dated dogma created to test proficiency in a static controlled aptitude test
We can (and we must) do more to prepare our officers to respond to all calls for service by providing the special training to all and not just a select few
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