So much to ask, so little time

[Ag00n]

I'm currently infatuated with the thought of being a police officer- especially S.W.A.T., or maybe Bomb/Arson. I recently went to a Police convention(I beleive that's the right word) at a local football stadium in San diego- there were at least 50 stands of officers and cadets, talking about the law enforcement job, etc. But there were still some questions I have, and was hoping some people at a site like this could answer.

1- In S.W.A.T., How many calls do they get per year(Any city, preferibly LA or Seattle)?
2- I know salaries vary, but with a..say.. 3 year occupation in Police, what kind of life would one live? Enough money for a nice apartment, enough to support 2 animals and oneself, enough for a moderate amount of "luxuries"(Internet, phone, TV, etc), And for a car?
3- I know there is Cadet training, for people who wish to ensue a career in Law Enforcement, but is there any training course for SWAT? It'd give me a better idea of what I need to train in between age 15 and 21+
4- I heard(By LAPD officer) that days are 12 hours long.. so like 6am to 6pm. What I'm curious to hear is.. Is the life of an officer lonely? So much time spent training and on duty, seems like little time for a love
5- When one doesn't practice, you become rusty, not as efficient, I'm aware that S.W.A.T. doesn't get many calls during the year, how do they keep well trained? IS there scheduled training? Like.. 5 hours every saturday?
6- Last, but not least, Is there a website to find out a little bit more about SWAT tactics, SWAT equipment(I found 1 site, but I'm sure it's not everything there), and other SWAT-related elements of life?

I'm truly sorry if all of this is answered somewhere, I searched a bit and didn't find it.

Thanks!

[Kimble]

I think this answer would be better answered in another forum section, as this does not have any relevance to federal law enforcement. Moderators, can this be moved to an appropriate section?

[Switchback]

Ok... moved.


Anywho, it takes a lot more than infatuation for SWAT/SRTor whatever the department/agency calls it. That infatuation quickly disappears and all you have left is dedication to your teammates and pride in yourself & the job you are doing.

Infatuation is for a 1 night stand, dedication and Love is for a wife. SWAT needs to be a wife of sort to you.

Furthermore, inquiring too much into SWAT before proving yourself as an officer/agent will do little more than get you unwanted attention.

The number of callouts will vary greatly. Not only from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but also within your agency. Things always go in spurts. It's weird... feast or famine!

Pay for locals is something that I can speak little of. I imagine that most departments allow for a decent living, though no one gets rich from LE (maybe after you retire if you have the credentials to write/consult). Federally speaking, which I do know a thing or 2, the pay is rather decent. Certainly nothing to complain about. I get paid no more for SRT/SOG. I get paid no more for all the hours, as I am salaried. You do it for the love, the passion. I average 65 hours a week and I'm paid the same as some coworkers that average 40 (on paper at least, but closer to 35). LOL

Regarding training. Most teams that I know try to stay with the NTOA standards of 16 hours per month. A great deal of the guys I know from several teams also do a lot of stuff on their own. Several of us get together for some shooting and lunch every now and then. I get out at least 1/,onth on my own to shoot... that is in addition to my team training and my monthly sniper qual day. Most of us fit train daily (more often than not)... on our own time.

I think I covered most of your questions. There are several guys here who are or have been on local department swat teams that may be able to answer some of the questions better than me.

Feel free to hit me up with any other questions.

[mcsap]

You will have to prove yourself as a street officer FIRST before you can even apply to be on a SWAT/SERT team. We require a minimum of 3 years and even then there is a list.

[Ag00n]

Thank you all, and sorry for posting in the wrong spot.

You will have to prove yourself as a street officer FIRST before you can even apply to be on a SWAT/SERT team. We require a minimum of 3 years and even then there is a list.

I was aware that you need to go through the regular duty before deciding a certain niche that you want to go into.. I had asked a couple of officers, they said it's usually 1-2 years before going into a more specific department, assuming you're really good, but wow. 3 years? Hm..

I get paid no more for all the hours, as I am salaried. You do it for the love, the passion. I average 65 hours a week and I'm paid the same as some coworkers that average 40 (on paper at least, but closer to 35). LOL

Yep.. Just like teaching, the pay isn't the best, but you do it for the love, and good feeling of it..

SWAT/SRT

SRT? Never heard of it.. .. Special Reaction Team?

Most of us fit train daily (more often than not)... on our own time.

that is in addition to my team training

I had assumed running, weight lifting, etc. is part of daily life.. Your team training, how often is that? Once a month like sniper traning?

Another question to drop on here- Formations(For SWAT, at least.. I figure street cop is just 2 people per car, plus however much needed backup), Do you commonly do 4-man teams? 5-man? And what is everyone's duty in the formation(EG 1 sniper, 1 commander, 1 guy with a shotgun, 2 with a SMG/Machine Gun), or is it somewhat.. spiratic, I think is the word, where 1 situation there's a sniper, 2 shotgunners, 1 SMGer, 1 captain/commander, and then the next situation there's 2 snipers, 1 shotgunner, 2 people on SMG/MG, and 1 captain?

[Switchback]

SRT: SPecial Response Team
SOG: Special Operations Group (our national team)
There are a ton of acronyms out there.

Some teams I know require 3-5 years time. Others require as little as a year. It often depends on how competitive it is to get on the team, the size of the team, etc.

We train 2 8 hour days/month. I know a team that often breaks it into 4 hours if they are having a problem scheduling (often for firearms training, etc, when it is not necessary to have the team together to complete it).

The formations we use is dependant on the mission. We use a relatively new technique often referred to as the "hammer and anvil" for most residential entries that involves simultaneous entries of smaller teams. We don't use snipers at the district level (SRT). They are employed only for SOG missions.

For typical entries, we have a medic on each team and a breacher on each team. Every member is an entry operator (including our medics). We usually use M4s. We have little use for shotguns (on most missions) for anything other than breaching. SMGs and shotguns really offer nothing over a properly employed M4.

[scott715us]

SRT: SPecial Response Team
SOG: Special Operations Group (our national team)
There are a ton of acronyms out there.

Some teams I know require 3-5 years time. Others require as little as a year. It often depends on how competitive it is to get on the team, the size of the team, etc.

We train 2 8 hour days/month. I know a team that often breaks it into 4 hours if they are having a problem scheduling (often for firearms training, etc, when it is not necessary to have the team together to complete it).

The formations we use is dependant on the mission. We use a relatively new technique often referred to as the "hammer and anvil" for most residential entries that involves simultaneous entries of smaller teams. We don't use snipers at the district level (SRT). They are employed only for SOG missions.

For typical entries, we have a medic on each team and a breacher on each team. Every member is an entry operator (including our medics). We usually use M4s. We have little use for shotguns (on most missions) for anything other than breaching. SMGs and shotguns really offer nothing over a properly employed M4.

Our SWAT folks have both M4's and MP5's, but use the MP's mainly. Do you find that more SWAT teams are moving to M4's for primary weapon use?

[Switchback]

Our SWAT folks have both M4's and MP5's, but use the MP's mainly. Do you find that more SWAT teams are moving to M4's for primary weapon use?

Yes.
The .223 penetrates barriers better, while immediately beginning to tumble, hence a minimal risk of overpenetration. A miss with a 124gr 9mm is FAR MORE LIKELY to overpentrate and injure someone else than a miss with a soft-tipped (or hollowpoint) 55gr .223.

I also have a 9mm MP assigned to me. Most (wrongfully) assumje that the increased barrel length helps ballistics. NOPE. Did you know that a Glock 17 sends a 9mm at higher velocity than an MP5? The only thing the MP gives you is ease of well placed rapid fire.

Most operators share my opinion... if you are going to give me a rifle, give me a rifle round!'


...and don't get me started on the poor fire select on the MP! I hate the HK fire select. I also have a G3 assigned... great gun... horrible fire select!


Also, don't get me wrong, the MP5 is a cute gun. Just not my rifle of choice. The ONLY time I would choose the MP over the .223 is if I were going surpressed and I could use subsonics.

[Ag00n]

We usually use M4s. We have little use for shotguns (on most missions) for anything other than breaching. SMGs and shotguns really offer nothing over a properly employed M4.

At the police convention..whatever.. the guys had a FNP90- are those very common? and also a gun(Not sniper rifle.. I Think he said it was an A15 or something of the sort) on a bipod- what's the purpose of having a bipod on it? I could understand if there was a standoff, and you shoot anything that moves, and you were waiting for like an hour or more.. But really?

And about the MP5 or M4 standoff.. How heavy are each of those? I figured the M4 is..what, 10 pounds? And mp5 like 7?

[Switchback]

The FN P90 is alright. I was more impressed with it when it first came out, based on the information that FN was distributing. I have a few friends that T&Eed it. They loved the way it shot. The problem is, all the street ballistics have it performing right on par with a 22lr. NO THANKS!

Possibly the A15 you mention is an AR15. It's a semi-auto version of an M16, essentially. I have a bipod that hsa a quick release for my M16. I can swap out the vertical grip flashlight (which I use for entries) for the bipod. The bipod is great for perimeter/sniper missions. It adds a great deal of accuracy through the added stability,

The weight differences between the M4 and MP5 is negligible once you pile on all the hardwars... aimpoints, NV, flashlights, etc.

[Nuklhed]

Hey Ag00n,

San Diego area officer here... That expo is always a good thing. Lots of information being passed out to all who are interested.. here are some answers to your questions.

Oh yeah, one more thing. You may think that 3 years is a long time to wait to do anything else on the department, believe you me, You are gonna want to know as much as you can on the streets before trying to do anything special. There are some people that have moved on quickly and Respect is a big part of being a supervisor. They dont have it, well they have it because of the stripes, but that is about it.

1- In San Diego, as far as a year? Couldnt tell you. Here you have swat officers who patrol the regular streets, just like every other officer, but they just so happen to have an MP5 or an AR-15 in the trunk.. They will respond to critical incidents that dont exactly meet the requirements for a swat callout, but is is good to have a tactically trained officer on scene. So, with those
2- I have been on approximately 4 years.. with O.T. and other stuff (Training, etc) I cleared $60,000 last year.. This year I am getting close to $75,000. Great pay, but if you are looking to be in San Diego, you wont be able to afford a house. Unless you are married to a really rich woman. Median priced home $510,000. ouch
3- Not that I know of. The cadet training is very good and it lets you be right there in the training with the police department. If you wnat to do that, you will get a great idea of what is to be expected of you, if you choose this career.
4- SDPD works 4 10-hour days. Makes it great, you have 3 day weekends, you have the same schedule for 4 months. You know what your days off are for 4 whole months.. makes it easy to plan. Love life? Plenty of time for that. Now you may have court and training on your Days off, but it is not like it is consuming your life.
5- They have training all the time. Like others said, be prepared to have it be a major part of your life.
6- I couldnt tell you.