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FBI Special Weapons and Tactics (FBI SWAT) Teams are specialized part-time SWAT teams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 56 field offices throughout the United States. [3] Each team is composed of a varying number of certified SWAT operators, dependent on office size and funding.
In the United States, a SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to resolve "high-risk situations", often those regular police units are not trained or equipped to handle, such as shootouts, standoffs, raids, hostage-takings, and terrorism.
The police departments and sheriff's offices of thousands of towns, cities, and counties across the United States have tactical units, which are usually called Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Sheriff's Emergency Response Team, (SERT), or Emergency Response Team (ERT). Some examples are below.
By the time of the SLA shootout, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. [25] An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal gear issued them included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask.
The team's final certification exercise, code-named Operation Equus Red, was held in October 1983 at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. During the exercise, the HRT, a local SWAT team, and a United States Department of Energy Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) were tasked with assaulting a terrorist stronghold. The "terrorist" group was ...
A SWAT vehicle, police armored vehicle, or police rescue vehicle is a non-military armored vehicle used by police tactical units to respond to incidents. They are most often in configurations similar to military light utility vehicles , infantry mobility vehicles , or armoured personnel carriers .
An FBI SWAT team advancing during an aircraft hijacking training exercise at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. Police tactical units have similarities to military special forces units such as organization, selection, training, equipment, and operational methodologies.
The increased use of SWAT teams is a hallmark of increased police militarization. The Cato Institute's Radley Balko wrote that during the 1980s, there were about 3000 SWAT raids a year and as of 2005 there were 40,000 a year. SWAT teams being used for gambling crackdowns and serving a search warrant are routine in some places, like Fairfax, VA ...