SWAT and Critical Incident Management Program

OpTac International presents its Harvard University award winning research on SWAT and Critical Incident Management to prepare and enhance the skills of law enforcement personnel responsible for the management of these extreme events. Law enforcement administrators, executive officers, incident and tactical commanders, and SWAT team personnel will benefit from an improved understanding of critical incident management, and its associated legal and liability concerns from both organizational and operational perspectives. Presentations include an analysis of contextual and hierarchy leadership, contemporary command decision-making, practical applications for incident management, and essential organizational conditions to increase the likelihood of consistently successful outcomes. In addition, an analysis of the following six case studies is presented in detail:

1) High-Risk Search and Arrest Warrant Service: Madinat Zayed, United Arab Emirates (2010): An armed suspect who had previously threatened to kill police officers was arrested at his residence for weapons and narcotics violations. He was a violent offender with a lengthy criminal record. The Abu Dhabi National Police Department SWAT team served the search and arrest warrants, which resulted in no injuries.

2) Armed Barricaded Suicidal Person: Eureka, California (2006): A suicidal woman was shot and killed by Eureka Police Department SWAT team members after she threatened to burn down her apartment building, kill herself, and injure others with a flare gun. The Chief of Police and SWAT Commander who authorized a tactical entry into the woman’s apartment were criminally indicted by the grand jury on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

3) Hostage Rescue Incident: Manila, Philippines (2010): A former Philippine police captain took Chinese tourists hostage aboard a bus. Police snipers from the Philippine National Police Department shot and killed the suspect, but not until the suspect had already killed eight hostages.

4) Hostage Rescue Incident: Las Vegas, Nevada (2011): A serial rapist took a woman hostage inside of her apartment, and unbeknown to negotiators, repeatedly raped her throughout the night. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department SWAT Team Leader shot and killed the suspect while another team member pulled the woman to safety after the tactical entry was authorized.

5) Hostage Rescue Incident: Mauldin, South Carolina (2003): A man took his ex-girlfriend’s brother (an off-duty deputy sheriff) and father hostage at their residence. He later shot and killed them after the incident commander allowed him to speak with his ex-girlfriend on the telephone. The suspect then dropped his gun and surrendered to Greenville County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team members when they entered the home.

6) Hostage Rescue Incident: Silver Spring, Maryland (2010): A suicide bomber took three hostages inside of the Discovery Communications Headquarters. Members of the Montgomery County Police Department SWAT team shot and killed the suspect during an emergency entry, successfully rescuing all of the hostages.

Subject Areas:

• Overview of critical incident management
• Case study analysis
• Decision-making for extreme events
• Impact of suspect actions
• Incident and pre-incident organizational conditions
• Legal and liability concerns for critical incident management
• Leader skills
• Personnel deployment
• Organizational and operational concerns
• Guidelines for effective SWAT team management
• Interactive discussion of attendee incident management concerns
• Presentation of the OpTac International Model designed to increase the likelihood of consistently successful critical incident outcomes