SWAT

The United States National Tactical Officers Association's definition of SWAT is:

SWAT: A designated law enforcement team whose members are recruited, selected, trained, equipped and assigned to resolve critical incidents involving a threat to public safety which would otherwise exceed the capabilities of traditional law enforcement first responders and/or investigative units.^[5]

Riots and political conflicts of the 1960s

The LAPD Metropolitan Division's "D" Platoon is one of the world's most prominent SWAT units and was the second SWAT team established in the United States, after that of the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964.^[6]

According to the Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, the term "SWAT" was used as an acronym for the "Special Weapons and Tactics" established as a 100-man specialized unit in 1964 by the Philadelphia Police Department in response to an alarming increase in bank robberies. The purpose of this unit was to react quickly and decisively to bank robberies while they were in progress, using a large number of specially trained officers who had a great amount of firepower at their disposal. The tactic worked and was used to resolve other types of incidents involving heavily armed criminals.^[6][7] Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Inspector Daryl Gates has said that he first envisioned "SWAT" as an acronym for "Special Weapons Attack Team" in 1967, but later accepted "Special Weapons and Tactics" on the advice of his deputy chief, Edward M. Davis.^[8]

The LAPD promoted what became known as SWAT teams for a variety of reasons. After the racially-charged Watts riots in Los Angeles in August 1965, the LAPD began considering tactics it could use when faced with urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. Daryl Gates, who led the LAPD response to the riots, would later write that police at the time didn't face a single mob, but rather "people attacking from all directions".^[8] New York University professor Christian Parenti has written that SWAT teams were originally conceived of as an "urban counterinsurgency bulwark".^[9]: 112

Another reason for the creation of SWAT teams was the fear of lone or barricaded gunmen who might outperform police in a shootout, as happened in Austin with Charles Whitman.^[8]

After the LAPD's establishment of its own SWAT team, many law enforcement agencies in United States established their own specialized units under various names. Gates explained in his autobiography Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported the underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support.^[10][11]

SWAT-type operations were conducted north of Los Angeles in the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley. At the time, the United Farm Workers union led by César Chavez was staging numerous protests in Delano in a strike that would last over five years.^[8] Though the strike never turned violent, the Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc SWAT-type units involving crowd and riot control, sniper skills, and surveillance.^[8] Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about the program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action, and afterwards, he took what he had learned back to Los Angeles, where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit.

John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits, and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The 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.^[10]

Early police powers and tactics used by SWAT teams were aided by legislation passed in 1967-8 with the help of Republican House representative Donald Santarelli. The legislation was promoted within the context of fears over the civil rights movement, race riots, the Black Panther Party, and the emerging War on Drugs.^[8]

The first significant deployment of the LAPD SWAT was on December 9, 1969, when an attempt by the LAPD to serve arrest warrants against the Black Panthers led to a four-hour standoff at their Los Angeles headquarters at 41st and Central, during which over 5,000 rounds were exchanged between police and the Panthers. During the shootout, Daryl Gates called the Department of Defense, requesting and receiving permission to use a grenade launcher; however, it was never actually used. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with four Panthers and four officers being injured. All six arrested Panthers were acquitted of the most serious charges brought against them, including conspiracy to murder police officers, because it was ruled that they acted in self-defense.^[8]

By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a police resource in Los Angeles.

1974 Symbionese Liberation Army shootout

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily armed left-wing guerrillas, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days afterwards. SWAT teams engaged in a several-hour gun battle with the SLA; no police were wounded, but the six SLA members died in the conflict, which ended when the house caught fire and burned to the ground.

By the time of the SLA shootout, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team being divided further into 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 sniper rifle (a .243-caliber bolt-action, based on 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. Standard gear included a first aid kit, gloves, and a military gas mask. At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and automatic weapons of various types.

A report issued by the LAPD after the SLA shootout offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the Watts riots, which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order; political assassinations; and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." 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."^[12]

The War on Drugs: 1980s and 1990s

USAF Security Forces SWAT officers during a training exercise at Travis Air Force Base in 1995

In 1981 U.S. Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, giving police access to military intelligence, infrastructure, and weaponry in the fight against drugs. Reagan subsequently declared drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security.^{[13]: 76–77} In 1988 the Reagan administration encouraged Congress to create the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Program. The program modified existing federal aid structures to local police, making it easier to transfer money and equipment to fight the War on Drugs. Police forces also received increased assistance from the DEA. The money resulted in the creation of many narcotics task forces, and SWAT teams became an important part of these forces.^{[13]: 73–75}

In 1972, paramilitary police units launched a few hundred drug raids annually within the United States. In the early 1980s, SWAT drug raid numbers increased to 3000 annually, and by 1996, 30,000 raids annually.^{[13]: 73–75} During the 1990s, according to The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, weapons donations from the Department of Defense greatly bolstered the number of SWAT teams and the extent of their operations. The paper reported that the military transferred nearly 100,000 pieces of military equipment to Wisconsin police departments in the 1990s.^[13]: 77

Criminal justice professors Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler, in their study Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units, surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold between the early 1980s and late 1990s.^[14]

Columbine shooting

The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999 was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were shooting students and staff inside the school, officers did not intervene in the shooting, but instead set a perimeter as they were trained to do. By the time they did enter the school, 12 people were killed and Harris and Klebold had committed suicide. They were also heavily criticized for not saving teacher Dave Sanders, who had died from blood loss, three hours after the SWAT first entered the school.^[15][16] As noted in an article in the Christian Science Monitor, "Instead 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."^[17] The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea was to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called active shooter 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 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."^[18]

Post-9/11 and the War on Terror

According to criminal justice professor Cyndi Banks, the War on Terror, like the War on Drugs, became the context of a significant expansion of SWAT policing.^[19] Whereas some have attributed this expansion to "mission creep" and the militarization of police, other scholars argue that increased SWAT policing is a response to real or perceived moral panics associated with fear of crime and terrorism. Banks writes that SWAT team employment of military veterans has influenced their tactics and perspective.^{[19]: 33–39}

Countering the view that post-9/11 SWAT policing represents the militarization of police forces, scholar den Heyer writes that SWAT policing is part of a natural progression towards police professionalization. Den Heyer also argues that while SWAT teams continue to be deployed to execute large numbers of drug warrants, this is a rational use of available police resources.^[19]: 39 Other defenders of SWAT deployments state that police have every reason to minimize risks to themselves during raids.^[19]: 39

By 2005, the number of yearly SWAT deployments in the United States had increased to 50,000,^{[20]: 183–4 [21]: 13–14} most often to serve drug-related warrants in private homes.^{[19][22]: 205} According to a study by the ACLU, just under 80% of SWAT deployments were used to serve arrest warrants.^[23]

Officers have cited safety as the main reason for use of SWAT teams, stating that SWAT units would frequently be called if there were a possibility a suspect might be armed. For instance, in 2006, only two police officers were killed in the arrest of 2 million drug suspects, a low casualty rate possibly stemming from the military equipment and tactics used in the raids.^{[21]: 13–14}

On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with a shooter in the Winnetka neighborhood of Los Angeles led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence.^[24]

Radley Balko, an analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute, argued in his book Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America that increased SWAT raids have made no-knock raids, and danger to innocents and suspects, far greater.^[25] Another study, Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber, also of the Cato Institute, raised concern about the increasing use of SWAT teams for ordinary policing tasks.^[26]

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Philadelphia Police Department

Philadelphia Police Department

The Philadelphia Police Department is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest police force and sixth largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Since records were first kept in 1828, at least 289 PPD officers have died in the line of duty.

Bank robbery

Bank robbery

Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-owned property, such as a train, armored car, or (historically) stagecoach. It is a federal crime in the United States.

Los Angeles Police Department

Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 9,974 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.

Daryl Gates

Daryl Gates

Daryl Francis Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 to 1992. His length of tenure in this position was second only to that of William H. Parker. Gates is co-credited with the creation of SWAT teams with LAPD's John Nelson, who others claim was the originator of SWAT in 1965. Gates also co-founded D.A.R.E.

Edward M. Davis

Edward M. Davis

Edward Michael Davis was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1969 to 1978, and later a California state senator from 1980 to 1992 and an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 1986. Davis' name was familiar to a generation of Americans since it appeared on its own card for "technical advice" in the closing credits of the popular television programs Dragnet (1967–70) and Adam-12 (1968–75).

Los Angeles

Los Angeles

Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California, the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, and one of the world's most populous megacities. With a population of roughly 3.9 million residents within the city limits as of 2020, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, being the home of the Hollywood film industry, and its sprawling metropolitan area. The majority of the city proper lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending partly through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into the San Fernando Valley, with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to its east. It covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km2), and is the county seat of Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022.

New York University

New York University

New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.

Christian Parenti

Christian Parenti

Christian Parenti is an American investigative journalist, academic, and author.

Charles Whitman

Charles Whitman

Charles Joseph Whitman was an American mass murderer who became known as the "Texas Tower Sniper". On August 1, 1966, Whitman used knives to kill his mother and his wife in their respective homes, then went to the University of Texas at Austin with multiple firearms and began indiscriminately shooting at people. He fatally shot three people inside UT Austin's Main Building, then accessed the 28th-floor observation deck on the building's clock tower. There, he fired at random people for 96 minutes, killing an additional eleven people and wounding 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police officers. Whitman killed a total of sixteen people; the 16th victim died 35 years later from injuries sustained in the attack.

Law enforcement in the United States

Law enforcement in the United States

Law enforcement in the United States is one of three major components of the criminal justice system of the United States, along with courts and corrections. Although each component operates semi-independently, the three collectively form a chain leading from an investigation of suspected criminal activity to the administration of criminal punishment.

Delano, California

Delano, California

Delano is a city in Kern County, California, United States. Delano is located 31 miles (50 km) north-northwest of Bakersfield at an elevation of 315 feet (96 m). The population was 51,428 in 2020, down from 53,041 in 2010. It is Kern County's second-largest city after Bakersfield.

Kern County, California

Kern County, California

Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.

DoD SWAT officers responding to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas

The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties, but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones, or radio transceivers. Even in larger police agencies, SWAT personnel will normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, but the officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

Since officers have to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol duties. To decrease response times to situations that require a SWAT team, it is now a common practice to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers. Departments that often use this style of organization are county sheriffs, due to the different sizes of counties, and the predominance of back-roads. In places like Los Angeles, where traffic may be heavy, the LAPD uses cruisers such as this to respond with their officers so they do not have to return to a police station to gather their gear. However, heavier duty equipment may be needed depending on the situation that arises.

By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times^[27] for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants. The NYPD Emergency Service Unit is one of the few police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services in addition to SWAT functions, including search and rescue, and car accident vehicle extrication, 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 Columbine led to changes in police response,^[28] mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

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United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.34 million active-duty service members as of June 2022. The DoD also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".

2009 Fort Hood shooting

2009 Fort Hood shooting

On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base.

Police car

Police car

A police car is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols and responses to calls for service. A type of emergency vehicle, police cars are used by police officers to patrol a beat, quickly reach incident scenes, and transport and temporarily detain suspects, all while establishing a police presence and providing visible crime deterrence.

New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department

The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, municipal police departments in the United States.

New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit

New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit

The Emergency Service Unit (ESU) is part of the Special Operations Bureau of the New York City Police Department. The unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. Members of ESU are cross-trained in multiple disciplines for police, first aid, and rescue work.

Fire department

Fire department

A fire department or fire brigade, also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression services.

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.^[29] Much of their equipment is indistinguishable from that supplied to the military, not least because much of it is military surplus.^[30][31]

Clothing

Crestview Police Department SWAT officers wearing different combat uniforms during an active shooter exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in 2013

SWAT personnel wear similar utility uniforms to the tactical uniforms worn by the military. Traditional SWAT uniforms are usually solid tones of dark blue, black, grey, tan, or olive green, though uniforms with military camouflage have become popular with some SWAT units since the 2000s.^[32]

Originally SWAT units were equipped with World War II-era surplus helmets, or even fiberglass motorcycle helmets.^[33] Modern SWAT units commonly use helmets similar to those issued by the U.S. military (such as the PASGT helmet or Integrated Head Protection System), though they may rarely also use riot helmets or soft headgear such as caps. Fire retardant balaclavas are often used to protect the face, as well as to protect the identity of team members.^[33][34] Ballistic vests, sometimes including rigid plate inserts, are standard issue.^[34] These vests are labelled with "POLICE", "SHERIFF", "SWAT" or similar, to allow for easy identification.^[35]

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.^[29]

Tactical aids include flash bangs, stingers, and tear gas grenades.^[36] Canine units may also be incorporated within SWAT teams, or may be used on an ad hoc basis.^[37]

The 9 mm Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun used to be the mainstay of most SWAT teams,^[38] but this has been phased out by many departments in favor of 5.56 carbines,^[39] such as the Colt CAR-15^[38] and the more modern M4.^[40] Common shotguns used by SWAT units include the semi-automatic Benelli M1 and, to a lesser extent, the pump-action Remington 870.^[38]

Semi-automatic pistols are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to: M1911 pistol series,^[38][41] SIG Sauer series^[42][43] (especially the P226^[41][43][44] and P229), Beretta 92 series,^[43] Glock pistols,^{[42][45][41][46][47][48]} H&K USP series,^[43][49] and 5.7x28mm FN Five-seveN pistol.^[50]

The Colt M16A2 may be used by SWAT marksmen when a longer ranged weapon is needed.^[38] Common sniper rifles used are M14 rifle and the Remington 700P.^{[38][42][44][47][48][49]} Many different variants of bolt-action rifles are used by SWAT, including limited use of .50 caliber sniper rifles for more intense situations.^[51]

To breach doors quickly, battering rams, shotguns with breaching rounds, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many non-lethal munitions and weapons. These include Tasers, pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with bean bag rounds, Pepperball guns, stinger grenades, flash bang grenades, and tear gas. Ballistic shields are used in close quarters situations to provide cover for SWAT team members and reflect gunfire. Pepperball guns are essentially paint ball markers loaded with balls containing pepper spray.

Vehicles

SWAT officers on a Lenco BearCat, an infantry mobility vehicle notable for common police use, in Charleston County, South Carolina

SWAT units often employ ARVs (Armored Rescue Vehicle)^[52] for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians, officers, firefighters, and/or military personnel. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or insertion via rappelling or fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use unmarked police cruisers.

During the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the scene.^[53][54]

Common armored SWAT vehicles include the Lenco BearCat, Lenco BEAR, BAE Caiman, Cadillac Gage Ranger, Cadillac Gage Commando, and other similar vehicles.^{[55][56][57][44][58]} Some departments use decommissioned or acquired military vehicles, such as MRAPs and APCs, typically acquired from the Law Enforcement Support Office.

The use of armored vehicles by SWAT teams is controversial, and it has been alleged that police armored vehicles escalate situations that could otherwise be resolved peacefully. Some smaller police departments and sheriff's departments also acquire armored vehicles, often retired military APCs such as the M113, despite very few incidents occurring in their jurisdiction that would require their use.

Discover more about SWAT equipment related topics

Military surplus

Military surplus

Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when held in excess or are no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Usually the goods sold by the military are clothing, equipment, and tools of a nature that is generally useful to the civilian population, as well as embroidered patches, name tags, and other items that can be used for a faux military uniform. Occasionally, vehicles will be sold as well. Some military surplus dealers also sell military surplus firearms, spare parts, and ammunition alongside surplus uniforms and equipment.

Crestview, Florida

Crestview, Florida

Crestview is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 27,134 at the 2020 census, up from 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Okaloosa County. With an elevation of 235 feet (72 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest points in the state; it receives 65 inches (1,700 mm) of rainfall annually, the second-most of any city in the state of Florida, after Fort Walton Beach with 69 inches.

Active shooter training

Active shooter training

Active shooter training addresses the threat of an active shooter by providing awareness, preparation, prevention, and response methods.

Eglin Air Force Base

Eglin Air Force Base

Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about three miles (5 km) southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.

Battle Dress Uniform

Battle Dress Uniform

The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Military camouflage

Military camouflage

Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ships, aircraft, gun positions and battledress, either to conceal it from observation (crypsis), or to make it appear as something else (mimicry). The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the concept of visual deception developed into an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, and camouflage was widely used to decrease the danger of being targeted or to enable surprise. As such, military camouflage is a form of military deception in addition to cultural functions such as political identification.

Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops

Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops

Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops is a combat helmet and ballistic vest that was used by the United States military from the early 1980s until the mid-2000s, when the helmet and vest were succeeded by the Lightweight Helmet (LWH), Modular Integrated Communications Helmet (MICH), and Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) respectively.

Integrated Head Protection System

Integrated Head Protection System

The Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) is the United States Army's newest combat helmet, intended to eventually replace the Advanced Combat Helmet and Enhanced Combat Helmet.

Nomex

Nomex

Nomex is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.

Balaclava (clothing)

Balaclava (clothing)

A balaclava, also known as a balaclava helmet, ski mask, or shiesty, is a form of cloth headgear designed to expose only part of the face, usually the eyes and mouth. Depending on style and how it is worn, only the eyes, mouth and nose, or just the front of the face are unprotected. Versions with enough of a full face opening may be rolled into a hat to cover the crown of the head or folded down as a collar around the neck.

Bulletproof vest

Bulletproof vest

A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. The vest may come in a soft form, as worn by many police officers, prison guards, security guards, and some private citizens, used to protect against stabbing attacks or light projectiles, using metallic or para-aramid components. Soldiers, police tactical units, marines, and special operations forces wear hard armors, either in conjunction with soft armor or alone, to protect against rifle ammunition or fragmentation.

Heckler & Koch MP5

Heckler & Koch MP5

The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, including some semi-automatic versions.

United States

• 1985 MOVE bombing
• North Hollywood shootout

Due to the specialized nature of SWAT duties, many films, television series, video games, novels, and other works have depicted SWAT units.

SWAT teams in media are often depicted as significantly more militarized or aggressive than they actually are—or, alternatively, are unnaturally able to cleanly defuse all kinds of situations without controversy or unnecessary casualties—and have been criticized as being inaccurate depictions.

Film and television

• S.W.A.T. (1975), a 1975 television series following a fictional SWAT team in 1970s California
  • S.W.A.T. (2003), a 2003 film loosely based on the 1975 series
  • S.W.A.T. (2017), a 2017 television series readapting the 1975 series, following a fictionalized LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT team
• Dallas SWAT, a 2006 reality television series following the SWAT team of the Dallas Police Department

Video games

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a 2012 first person shooter developed by Valve, in which FBI SWAT and generic police SWAT are playable as part of the Counter-Terrorist faction
• SWAT, a tactical shooter series developed by Sierra Entertainment, where the player is a member of a SWAT team
• Ready or Not, a 2021 tactical shooter developed by VOID Interactive, considered a spiritual successor to the SWAT series
• Door Kickers, a 2014 real-time tactics strategy game developed by KillHouse Games, where the player commands a SWAT team
• Payday: The Heist and Payday 2, co-op first person shooters released in 2011 and 2013 respectively, where SWAT teams are the main enemies encountered by the player

Discover more about In popular culture related topics

S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama television series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics (S.W.A.T.) team operating in an unidentified Californian city, although filming was done in and around Los Angeles. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired for two seasons on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg were executive producers. It was created by Robert Hamner and developed by Rick Husky.

LAPD Metropolitan Division

LAPD Metropolitan Division

Metropolitan Division, commonly referred to as Metro Division or just Metro, is a division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) under its Special Operations Group. Metropolitan Division is responsible for managing the LAPD's specialized crime suppression, K-9, mounted, and SWAT units, named "platoons".

Dallas SWAT

Dallas SWAT

Dallas SWAT is an American reality television series that premiered January 5, 2006, on A&E. It tracks the day-to-day operations of the Dallas police department's SWAT team. The series aired over three seasons on A&E. During its time, Detroit and Kansas City, Missouri were also featured beginning in the second season.

Dallas Police Department

Dallas Police Department

The Dallas Police Department, established in 1881, is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Dallas, Texas.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a 2012 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series. Developed for over two years, Global Offensive was released for OS X, PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in August 2012, and for Linux in 2014. Valve still regularly updates the game, both with smaller balancing patches and larger content additions.

FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams

FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams

FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams are specialized part-time tactical teams (SWAT) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 56 field offices throughout the United States. Each team is composed of a varying number of certified SWAT operators, dependent on office size and funding.

Police Quest

Police Quest

Police Quest is a series of police simulation video games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1998. The first five were adventure simulation games, the first three of which were designed by former police officer Jim Walls. The fourth to sixth titles were designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates. Both SWAT and the real-time tactics game SWAT 2 still carried the Police Quest name and were numbered V and VI in the series, respectively, although subsequent titles in the series would drop the Police Quest title altogether and were rebranded as SWAT.

Ready or Not (video game)

Ready or Not (video game)

Ready or Not is a tactical first-person shooter developed and published by Ireland-based VOID Interactive and released for Microsoft Windows. Ready or Not follows the operations of a police SWAT team in the fictional city of Los Suenos, California in the midst of a crime wave.

Door Kickers

Door Kickers

Door Kickers is a real-time tactics video game developed and published by Romanian indie studio KillHouse Games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on October 20, 2014, and later for iOS and Android on June 24, 2015 and September 4, 2015 respectively. A Nintendo Switch version was released on December 26, 2020, published by QubicGames. In Door Kickers, the player commands the SWAT team of the fictional Nowhere City Police Department, leading them against the city's violent criminals and terrorists.

Real-time tactics

Real-time tactics

Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.

Payday: The Heist

Payday: The Heist

Payday: The Heist is a cooperative first-person shooter developed by Overkill Software and published by Sony Online Entertainment. It was released on 18 October 2011, for PlayStation 3 in North America and 2 November in Europe. It was released on 20 October for Windows via Steam. The game runs on the Diesel game engine. It contains seven different missions, with each mission containing random elements which alter the gameplay in subtle ways with the aim of enhancing replayability. The Wolf Pack DLC was released on PlayStation 3 and PC in August 2012. This DLC added two heists, additional weapons, increased level cap, and a player upgrade tree.

Payday 2

Payday 2

Payday 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software and published by 505 Games. The game is a sequel to 2011's Payday: The Heist. It was released in August 2013 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A remastered version of the game, subtitled Crimewave Edition, was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2015 and for the Nintendo Switch in February 2018.