[ARCHIVED THREAD] - SWAT? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/22/2006 5:51:17 PM EDT
| What are the requirements to work in a SWAT team? Is it hard to qualify? Where do I start? |
No problem getting on with SWAT. First go put in an application and then pass everything to become a police officer. Be sure to join a police department that has SWAT since a majority of them do not have a team. Next you need to pass the academy and a few months of field training. If you pass all of the training, then stay as a police officer for a certain number of years, likely between 2-5, then you can apply for SWAT. After making it the few years on duty and learning how to become a cop, then you go against the other officers that have applied to SWAT also. The selection process will then weed out the ones they do not want. The process will likely have some kind of review of your work history, an interview with SWAT members/admin and some kind of physical agility test(s). If you make at or near the top, then you may finally get to be a team member. See, nothing to it. |
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Start by being a good cop. Once you have some knowledge of the technical and tactical, your team will start to notice you, then give it a try at the next assesment. Just keep in mind you have to spend time doing grunt work to gain the necessary experience (some less than others based on prior experience). I have been in SWAT ops for about seven years, and I am 42 years old. The average age on the team I serve with is about 36. Good luck |
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There are a couple unwritten things, too. Above all is being a team player- no room for hotdogs on a team. The other is the heart and dedication to the team. Having a good family that understands why you have to leave in the middle of the aniversary dinner, movie, birthday, etc helps out too. It is a spot that is earned, not given, so hard work and a good rep will pay off in its time. |
Ditto on that. Our SWAT team has try-outs about once every year. You take a PT test (LawFit), then put in an application (the "I love me" resume), which gets reviewed by the command staff, who then picks the top ten for a decidedly unpleasant day at the range full of PT, shooting, and CS gas. Even that is not a guarantee of making it. |
All that cannot be overemphasized. If you want to be on the SWAT team just because it's cool, then you aren't right for it. It is a brotherhood existence, something akin to the "Band of Brothers" because you are part of a team and somebody's life is in your hands when you are on an operation. Be a good, solid police officer. Earn the respect of your peers. And then, when the opening for SWAT comes about , you will know you are ready. What's more, if you are a good officer, I'd bet the SWAT guys pull you aside someplace and tell you to apply. Credibilty is your ticket, in my humble opinion. good luck. |
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Go into law enforcement with a open mind. First, work the beat for 3-5 years as a patrol officer and as the previous posts have said, "gain the respect from the your peers". After that, look not only into SWAT but look into Investigtions, K-9, School Resource Officer, or etc. You may not want to pursue SWAT because your interested in another field such as above. Also, you gotta have a positive mind set, your statement "I'm not sure if I have what it takes" tells me you have already gave up! Anyway, good luck and stay positive!!! |
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As already posted, you need to be a police officer or deputy on a department with a SWAT team first. Our team criteria is that you have to have been on our department for at least 1 year and be off probation. Then you have to submit a memo requesting that you be considered for the team. The team leader (Sgt right now) reviews it and decides whether or not he wants to see if you can make the team (usually by going to all the active team members and finding out whether or not they think you would be a good team member). If the team leader approves of you he forwards the request up the chain of command to be approved by the Commander and then the Chief. AFTER being approved to try out for the team you still have to test for it. Testing includes an Oral Review board in which your reasons, experience, judgement, work performance, etc are all covered. If you have problems with your work history or have been written up regularly or anything you can usually kiss it goodbye. Once you pass the oral review there is a PT assessment, you have to be able to run a mile and a half and do a certain amount of sit-ups, push ups and a sprint. THEN you make the team if everything else falls into place, which is followed by more training. I realize the original responses covered the part about becoming a cop first but I thought you might be interested in the nuts and bolts of our selection process. Our departments requirement of only being on the force for 1 year is pretty low, most departments require 3-5 years and usually at least one specialty assignment prior to SWAT applications. |
Regular patrol is frequently more exciting than SWAT work.....at least you get more excitement than many SWAT cops. Most departments are small and their SWAT team is made up of regular officers who just do SWAT callouts on the side. There's no way to really compare SWAT vs regular patrol. There are positives and negatives to every kind of work. Speeding often leads to bigger things such as drug busts, pursuits, and sometimes just irate idiots!! It's not just speeding enforcement. If you don't want to be a regular patrol officer then don't bother with trying to get into SWAT. As has been mentioned here, you need to stand out as a patrol officer before you will be considered for SWAT. What 's your MOS? Good luck. |
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You've got to learn how to do police work before you can advance. That means putting in time learning the ins and outs of day to day operations- tedious as they can be, but necessary and very essential. You also have to know legal issues- case law and a good thing to know is investigations. Tactical work isn't all about kicking doors, in the last years more has come to the plate. It's a thinking man's game. By all accounts, if you choose this route, keep your PT on the top level- Cooper standards come to mind, firearms skills tops, and know how to act during an oral board. First impressions mean alot in oral boards. By all means, don't quit. |
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I haven't really started yet, so I'm not really giving up on anything. I'm told I am a pretty good shot, I enjoy shooting alot, I don't want a boring job, I'm 18, and I don't really know what I want to do with my life: what do you guys recommend? Also I'm pretty sure I'm going to the Marines for 4 years when I get out of highschool on June 18th. |
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Go into the Marines, chances are you'll like it, you'll find that when you get out (if you don't become a Lifer!) you'll be more mature, squared away, you know; a man. Police Depts love former Marines. What they don't like is kids who can do the tests, but opt out halfway through the Academy because they aren't sure of themselves, or get scared when they see what a Police Officer actually gets into. As it stands now, you're too young for most Departments, and frankly, just from your posts, this job ain't for you. Not yet..... |
I totaly agree. I want to fight for my country, justice, and I want to protect people, but I've never been in a fight, and I just don't know if I could handle it in the real world. I'm pretty sure I could, I can imagine being in a fire-fight and being completely calm just thinking about what I'm there to do and the situation, I'm pretty good at being rational and having that "what happens, happens, and panicing won't help" mentality, but I can't know for sure how I'd really act until I get in a real fight ya know. Failing while I'm in training, or even worse, while I'm in the field, is the worst possible scenario I can imagine. A good example is (you guys won't approve  ) when I used to take mushrooms or salvia, and I would be having an extremely bad trip, I could just retionalize it the entire time, and know it's just the drug. Even after telling my friends this a bunch of times, they would completely freak out like crazy, and they told me they just couldn't handle it. I mean, hell, it can be scary but come on, its just a drug, you're not going to die, and if you are, panicing like a bitch won't help you.If you don't know what a "bad trip" is, I thought I was dead, literaly dead, I couldn't feel my body and it just felt like my spirit was somewhere else, sometimes I even saw myself dead, while I was a detached spirit, stuck in pergatory. Also, you lose your ego, "ego death", you don't know who you are, or sometimes what you are. At the time you believe that the shrooms were really poisonous, and you really died. The scariest drug experience I've had was when I didn't know I just smoked salvia, and I thought reality was splitting into layers, and I couldn't move my body no matter how hard I tried. Recalling that particular incident, I actually said something along the lines of "This sucks", probably from the horrible tingleing, and even "this is amazing", probably from seeing all reality become columns on a giant face (Mother salvia showing herself), of course according to my friends, because I don't remember saying anything. I was shocked after, because i realized it was just the salvia, but not freaked out. |
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Stay out of police work and while you are at it....stay out of the Marines. We don't need druggies in either field. |
theoneinthemask|
Reading comprehention is something we can all enjoy. I SAID USED TO! USED TO, AS IN PAST TENSE, AS IN I DON'T ANYMORE. That is the last time I explain my writing, if you don't understand something as simple as that, then I really don't care. Drugs are rediculous, I still have friends going down that retarded spiral, and they keep trying to get me to join them. I don't need synthetic happiness or well-being, you can have it without a chemical. Yeah, I'm gonna go to the marines hopped up on acid, yo, lets all trip out yo, it'll blow your mind. |
This is probably one of the worst places ever to mention any sort of drug use. It's the Internet equivalent of walking into a DEA office bragging about how high you got last night. One question though: does the military and/or LE consider past legal use of prescription drugs that can have mind-altering but unintended side effects the same as having a history of illegal drug use ? Just a hypothetical question, does not apply to me as I have disqualifying medical conditions. |
It would depend on the drug and the circumstances. For example, occasional prescribed use of Xanax would probably not be a problem but lithium would DQ you immediately. |
Unfortunately there are drugs available in the Marnes just like every where. If you have a history of drug use then you are more prone to it. Re-read your statement highlighted in red above. You want to be a cop but won't get rid of your druggie friends. I'm a cop and also have 10 years in the Marines. You are the type that joins the Marines and then goes home on leave and gets blasted. When you come back from leave, everyone takes a piss test and you pop. Goodby Marines and police work. The Marine Corps has a NO TOLERANCE policy on drug use. You use.....you get the boot and an other than honorable discharge. You need to find good friends and get rid of the bad influence of your shitty friends. It's good that you want to do something positive with your life. Good on you. Now get rid of your druggie friends before they drag you down that drug ridden past again. Don't come in here with an attitude because you will get pounded. We like to help young people who wish to be future cops but we have no use for people with attitudes and druggies...and at this time you are an admitted druggie. Police work needs good people and good people surround themselves with other good people...not druggies. The Marines might be good for you but you'll have to get rid of the shitty friends that you have now and never go back down that drug ridden road. It's up to you. |
Excellent advise...I hope he listens? Time will tell.  If not, there's always........................   The Whizzinator! |
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I've already taken care of it. On June 20 I'll be out of this state and away from the "druggy" lifestyle for good. I already am, I mean hell, my friends are still doing drugs but I turn them down every time, that should say something about my willpower. If I end up joining Marines there is NO WAY IN HELL I would take drugs. |
But if you don't join then you might? |
Requirements depend on the department. You need to meet often very stringent physical fitness requirements, must be willing to be on call all the time, and must be willing to work gobs and gobs of hours. Most departments do not have a full-time team, so any SWAT duty will usually be in addition to normal patrol/investigative/whatever duties you have. If you want to be on SWAT because you think that is where the cool kids hang out, then you ought to look elsewhere. SWAT is hard work that requires dedication few have the ability to muster. It is a tough thankless job that involves a heck of a lot more than packing an MP5 and looking cool. |
Begin by learning to be a Patrol Officer first.You must be able to get along with others.Must have an even temper.If you decided to be a cop you obviously ned to be in good phsyical condition.Know your tools,and master them.Handgun,shotgun,rifle.Then wait until testing for Swat comes up and apply and of course past the test.
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Well SWAT gets all the fancy training, but I get to have all the fun. I did an excorcism last night. SWAT doesn't get to do that EVER! |
Try and comprehend this: You have screwed up your life to the point that it can not be completely fixed, no matter how much you wish you hadn't. |
HAHAHAHAHAHA that's a new one, I keep tinfoil in my bag for 421A's, but I've NEVER been able to perform an excorcism! I can't wait! |
Yeah, I geuss so. I honestly don't feel that I have any adverse effects from drug-use, save maybe a little eye sight "distortion", I can still see fine though. Oh yeah, I apologize for snapping like that. Edit: I haven't joined the Corpse yet, everyone I know is telling me not to, I don't know anyone around here that supports this current administration, or the war in Iraq. |