APD Zone 2 Fangirl Report – SWAT
It’s me again, comin at ya with the next (and most fun so far) update on cop school!
This time we all piled into the prison van to be transported over to the SWAT unit. And here we found where APD keeps its fun toys and it’s buffest and brightest. If you want to feel safe, it is with these guys. They are youngish, super in shape, super smart and have nerves of steel. They must for the things they deal with…bombs, riots, hostage situations. Touchy feely – not so much – but that’s not the top skill set required. According to them – mental stability is as important as physical capability. This unit is elite, and they know it. That probably has something to do with the fact that turnover isn’t a problem here.
There are about 22 guys in this unit – currently all men but they do have a woman coming up for one of the next sought-after spots. They are on call 24/7 365 which is pretty demanding. They average 30 true SWAT calls per year and the ones they hate the most are “the ones just as you are sitting down to dinner” and “the ones during winter because I hate the cold,” oh and riots too. They also serve warrants and are called out to all major events and when the president is in town.
Let’s talk toys since that was the focus on this tour!
- The “MEGATRON” – or to you and me the bomb truck. This one has the two remote control robots they use to inspect suspicious packages: Telemax and F-6. R2D2 would be so in love! These babies have five cameras, treads, pincers and a healthy price tag of about $300K each. Certainly don’t want to be the guy who jacks one up!
- The Bomb holder thingie – I missed the name (some combo of letters and numbers) of it, but this is the big round thing that they used to transport suspicious packages. It can withstand 10lbs of explosives going off.
- The BOMB Suit – this thing weighs 80 pounds and is kryptonite to those of us with claustrophobia. It made me look like a mini staypuff marshmallow man, but even the big beefy dude in our class couldn’t get up off the ground in it. The guys say it makes the difference between and open and closed casket funeral – eeew!
- The BEAR – this is an armored monster truck complete with a series of ramps on top that can be extended three stories high. This is used with jumper situations among other things.
- The BEARCAT – a smaller version armored monster truck complete with a twenty-foot-long battering ram thing that attaches to the front. Nothing is going to stand in its way for long!
- The VIP – this is like a HUMMER – again armored and used as a more “regular” vehicle for things like the motorcade that screws up traffic for the rest of us when the president is in town.
- Gilly suits – who knew SWAT dudes could be crafty – these are the “blankets” they use to camouflage themselves and they tale pride in making them and adding things to them. (Note to self – do NOT play hide and seek with these guys!)
Sniper Rifles – these were downright scary and where almost everyone in our class said “no thanks” to holding them. They are exactly what you see on the crime shows. But something interesting is the #1 role of a sniper is intel gathering… they are using those scopes and hidey holes to spy on the situation and provide real time intel for the guys on the ground- Gas “rifles”- these babies are the least lethal of what we saw today – and often the first step in dealing with someone in a barricade situation. They fire a powder or gas to disable a criminal. They also can fire colored powder to “mark” a suspect in a riot -type situation so they can be tracked in a crowd.
Fun Fact: When I asked how people reacted to them at a cocktail party when asked what they do – they all said they avoid the answer. One’s regular answer is he’s a dolphin trainer and another one cryptically says he works for the City.
Quote of the Day: When I asked if there is any kind of ranking (think a golf handicap) for their shooting skills the answer was “If we can see it, we can hit it.” Weeeell alrighty then!
