Learning from the mistakes of the past will make us all safer during SWAT operations in the future. OpTac International recently released research on deaths among SWAT operators while on SWAT operations and during training accidents.
Their research found that from 2004-2008, 71 percent of SWAT officer deaths occurred in training or from friendly fire. During that period, 12 SWAT operators died while training or when accidentally shot by another SWAT operator. For that same period, five SWAT operators died on SWAT operations as a result of a suspect fatally shooting the operator.
Two significant points stand out about those two figures. The first is that SWAT cops are “locked on” when doing live SWAT operations — for all the thousands of SWAT operations that are conducted in this country every year, only five SWAT cops in that four year span died at the hands of their adversary(s). Of those five who made ultimate sacrifice, two may have been prevented with the use of ballistic armor.
However, the second point is that we are needlessly killing ourselves in training or by friendly fire, more than on live SWAT operations. The number of officers killed in training and by friendly fire is more than double than in live SWAT operations. That is unacceptable, and as Warriors we owe it to each other to reduce the number of training and friendly fire deaths.
It is obvious that the professional SWAT cop has become an elite Warrior willing to dedicate his time and efforts to uphold the ideals of Inspector Daryl Gates and Officer John Nelson, the fathers of modern day SWAT. However, if 71 percent of SWAT deaths occur in training or due to friendly fire during operations, then it is also obvious that we still have room to improve.
Here is how the 12 training deaths break down: six SWAT cops died from gunfire, four SWAT cops died from heart attacks and illness, and two SWAT cops fell to their deaths. So how do we achieve a safer SWAT environment in the field during SWAT operations and in training?
I took this question to Stuart Meyers, president of OpTac International. I asked Stuart what SWAT cops can do to improve their safety in live SWAT operations and he stated that “target identification” was the greatest factor in what he calls “Blue Death” (friendly fire). Also “excessive fatigue and officer’s failure to wear issued ballistic protective gear on call outs” were other issues in live operations. Stuart stressed the importance of having relief available for your SWAT cops for lengthy SWAT operations. He also recommends wearing ballistic face shields.
When the conversation turned to “Blue Deaths” in training, Stuart said that too many departments haven’t instituted safety standards and protocols for their department. If your department doesn’t already have a policy in place, I encourage you to visit the OpTac Web site and download their recommended training standards. Lastly, he recommends having a Physician on scene at training and during SWAT operations in case of any medical emergency.
He isn’t recommending that we do away with TEMS but his point is a good one: “If that potentially lethal injury occurs, then the physician can treat the victim immediately and not lose valuable minutes.” TEMS is a critical component of SWAT and is designed to enhance SWAT operations, but if your agency responded to a critical incident with mass casualties or multiple SWAT cops with injuries, your volunteer Physician may be crucial in saving a SWAT cops life. The volunteer Physician is a great idea and I will discuss that topic in a future article.
I have been involved with SWAT, tactical command, training of SWAT operators, and Snipers for some time now and here are some observations and suggestions from my experience. First, SWAT commanders must take full responsibility for every aspect of SWAT. It is their responsibility to provide safe SWAT operations and training. They can start with educating themselves in the many disciplines of SWAT operations. Don’t get caught up in thinking your team has the best tactic or there is nothing else you can learn from others. That mentality is a recipe for disaster. Once you have a strong working knowledge of SWAT operations then the development of sound procedures will lay the foundation for safe operations and training.
The second component is the selection of personnel. It is important to select candidates that are qualified to perform SWAT operations and then put them through rigorous training to evaluate their abilities. Once the selection is made, never hesitate to remove a SWAT cop from the team if he has been identified as a liability. If you commanders fail to take responsibility for your SWAT team then you are rolling the dice with your officer’s safety.
Here is an example of failing to take full responsibility for your SWAT team. A couple of year’s back I was the Sniper Team Leader on a SWAT operation. After the team was briefed, I advised my eight man sniper team to prepare to move out. We started to move from the command post to get into our positions a couple blocks away. I started to lead the team away in a single file when all of a sudden, the sniper behind me touched off a .308 round. That bullet nearly struck the back of my head and I spent the rest of the call-out thinking about my wife and kids.
Aside from the obvious — if the weapon wasn’t loaded, or the safety selector was on ‘safe,’ or the operator kept his finger off the trigger — could that mistake have been prevented or avoided? Unfortunately, yes. This incident could have been prevented if the SWAT operator had been removed from the team much earlier in his career, when I advised the department brass of the problems that we identified with him early on. Failure to act on identified problems almost cost me my life. SWAT commanders must take full responsibility for their SWAT teams.
Selection of SWAT personnel is just as important as any other factor — we must select individuals that are qualified to be SWAT officers. S WAT cops should be subjected to a basic evaluation process that includes interviews, a review of the officer’s personnel file, basic shooting skills and a physical agility test. I realize that smaller agencies have a smaller pool of candidates to pick from but that is no excuse to choose an unqualified candidate for SWAT and place other SWAT operators in harms way.
Don’t let friendships get in the way of making the proper selection. You will have to interview candidates that include good friends of yours — guys that come over to your house and guys you spend time with on the weekends. If that individual isn’t the right guy for the team, then be up front with him and articulate your reasons. It’s your responsibility to choose the most qualified candidate.
All candidates should attend a basic tactical course. I am aware of agencies that don’t require this and obviously your just exposing yourself and your agency to potential problems. There are real benefits to requiring your officers to attend a mandatory basic course. The biggest advantage is SWAT commanders will be able to evaluate the SWAT candidate before sending him into SWAT operations or to team training. If your candidate is having real problems that can’t be corrected by the conclusion of the SWAT course than it’s time to thank him for his interest and efforts and send him back to his unit. Selecting the right individuals for SWAT may be the most important factor in keeping your SWAT operations safe.
My next point is sure to spark some debate. Ten years ago I was training as an explosive breacher at T.E.E.S. and got to train with the founder, Alan Brosnan. Alan didn’t want us to do the explosive entries portion of the training on his compound with our weapons selector switch on “full auto” or “fire” until a threat presented itself and you were going to engage it. He also recommended that we operate this way in live SWAT operations. His theory was that a SWAT operator could identify his threat, switch his safety selector from safe to fire as he places his firing finger on the trigger to engage his threat just as fast as any other technique. By doing so, SWAT cops can reduce the number of accidental discharges and friendly fire incidents.
At first I thought this would slow my response time when I engaged my threats. However Alan timed our entries the first and last days of the course while using this tactic. When we finished the course I was a believer — I could manipulate my MP-5 safety selector from safe to fire just as fast as I could do it on fire from the start. There was no doubt in my mind that I was a safer operator for using this tactic.
I asked Staurt Meyers about his opinion on this tactic and he indicated that he wouldn’t recommend doing it because “officers may fail to switch the safety selector under the stress of being in a gun fight.”
I called Alan Brosnan to see if he still advocates this technique. Alan stated he still does and gave me this reason why: “When officers get holsters for their handguns, Sergeants don’t allow their officers to walk around with their holsters unsecured so the officer can access it quicker. The officer practices drawing his handgun from the holster so he doesn’t have a problem drawing his gun.”
His point was the motion to manipulate your retention holster can be mastered with training and that drawing from a holster is much bigger motion than flipping a safety selector switch from safe to fire. Whether you agree with Alan or Stuart on this, I encourage you to at least give it a try in training and see if it works for your team.
The last element is dedicating your efforts to training. Don’t waste one of your monthly training days playing basketball in a gym. Get in the field and train. Those agencies that waste training days because they are lazy may live to regret their work ethic if one of their Warriors fall victim to a needless mishap.
I like to take SWAT operators to an uncomfortable place in SWAT training so if an adversary takes your Warrior to that same uncomfortable place, it won’t be his first time there. This increases his chances for success and survival. Through tough training, your motor skills develop and become the SWAT operator’s automatic pilot. If your training is intense, of sound principle, and conducted to the point of redundancy, then when your adversary chooses combat your automatic motor skills will take over before your brain can process the situation and you will walk away the victor.
I would like to commend OpTac International for its diligent work and Stuart Meyers for his continued commitment to the SWAT community. Also, I encourage all SWAT Commanders and Operators to take responsibility for your SWAT teams in live operations and in training. Keep in mind that twice as many SWAT cops died in training then at the hand of their adversary(s), so maintain the same intensity in training as you do on a SWAT operations.
Commit yourselves to Excellence and the Warrior spirit on all your SWAT operations and training days.
