Potential SWAT members put through ordeal

They scale tall buildings, crash through doors, save people being held hostage and arrest armed and/or barricaded criminals.

In many ways, they are the superheroes of local police departments — the members of the SWAT team.

"You get to do things they make TV movies about," said Salt Lake City police Sgt. Dave Hoffman, a member of the department's SWAT team. "When we get called we have to get the job done. There's no one to call to rescue SWAT. SWAT gets called out for the worst of the worst." The acronym, in fact, stands for Special Weapons And Tactics.

SWAT team members typically are called upon to rescue people being held hostage, deal with armed individuals who are barricaded inside a building or to serve warrants at the residences of criminals known to be violent.

The city's SWAT team is called out 60 to 100 times a year, Hoffman said.

Not just anyone can become a SWAT team member. Salt Lake City police require their applicants to first pass the SWAT Selection School that they host. If candidates get through that, they are then put on a waiting list to be called when there's an opening on the team. Once on the team, the officer receives even more intense training.

Last week, police officers from several jurisdictions throughout the Wasatch Front attended SLCPD's weeklong SWAT school.

Twenty-one officers began the grueling camp at 3 a.m. on a Sunday. By Monday, the number of officers was already down to 15.

Day one was a 20-hour exercise in mental and physical stability, which included an intense obstacle course.

"It was long and exhausting," Salt Lake City police officer and SWAT candidate Dave Artis said of the first day. "It was one long continuous day."

If the officers can make it past the first day, they usually last the rest of the week, Hoffman said. But he noted that making it past the first day was a big "if" for some.

"We try to push them to a point, try to wear them down and then throw them into a scenario they have to perform," he said.

Hoffman said it's typical for SWAT members to work their regular 10-hour shift only to be called out for what may become an all-night SWAT standoff.

No matter how physically or mentally drained a SWAT team member is, "We can't make mistakes," he said.