SWAT, special weapons and tactics teams are usually called in where the situation at hand requires officers which have been trained in military tactics and they have unique police tactical gear at their disposal. These situations are often known about in advance and heavy weapons use can be anticipated. SWAT team members are also called in to deal with protest situations that may even turn into a riot. One of the original reasons for the development of these special teams was to deal with potentially explosive situations involving large groups of people.
All police officers are trained and they know how to deal with a dangerous state of affairs. They are fully competent with the use of their side arms and other weapons for self-defense and they know how to take down and restrain a suspect that they are arresting. As good as beat officers are, there are times and situations where the training they have had is insufficient, in situations like this, SWAT teams along with all of their police tactical gear are called in.
A good example of where a SWAT team may be deployed is if a daylight bank holdup is in progress and there are customers of the bank in the building, often in situations like this, there may be hostage situations develop. A bank robber can become very excitable and the threat of gun use becomes real, there is also a good chance that innocent people will be caught up in the crossfire between the police and the robbers. In situations like this, SWAT teams are called for as they have received rigorous and specific training in how to deal with these types of situations where the public is in peril.
During the Vietnam war in the 1960 and 70s there were many protests and riots among those people who were protesting America’s involvement. The police at the time were not prepared to deal with these huge numbers of rioters, they concluded that dealing with these large numbers of people were beyond their capability, they lacked training and the unique police tactical gear that is needed. It was during these times that SWAT teams were born and over time they have become an integral part of law enforcement where special tactics are required.
Riot and police tactical gear including upper body protection, helmets and various equipment carrying devices are available online from Safety Basement.