Standards for SWAT

• NCJ Number: 227177
• Author(s): National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
• Date Published: May 2009
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Operation of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)

Annotation

This report discusses the rationale and describes the development of the National Tactical Officers Assocation's (NTOA's) SWAT Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Abstract

These standards provide a core set of concepts, principles, and policies designed to standardize and enhance the delivery of tactical law enforcement services. NTOA produced the standards on a fast turnaround timetable, beginning a series of meetings in February 2008 and releasing the standards in September of the same year. It was assisted by the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center (RULETC), which provided input into standards development and offered a training track on multijurisdictional SWAT teams at the September 2008 NTOA conference. RULETC has also developed a CD-ROM entitled Multi-Jurisdictional Special Weapons and Tactics. It is available free and includes the full text of the standards, a multijurisdictional best practices guide, a multimedia presentation, and sample forms. Compliance with the NTOA standards is voluntary. Response to the standards has been mainly positive, although some jurisdictions view them as too tough. Because the standards make clear that the days of the four-person SWAT team are over, some teams will be forced to combine personnel and resources in order to meet the standards.