My 9 year old son has “decided” that he wants to be on a SWAT team when he grows up. He also has said that he wants to be in the military, but he keeps changing changing what he wants to do in the military, one day he wants to be a Marine, one day a SEAL, etc… (Not that I expect him to know what he wants to do for the rest of his life at age 9)
But it has brought up a question that I can’t answer. What is the best path to joining a SWAT team?
I figured that with my son’s desire to go into the military, he could get into the ROTC program at a university and get the scholarship and join the military as an officer (some of my fraternity brothers did this). But will that put him on a path to getting on a SWAT team? Or would it be better for him to go into the military as an enlisted soldier and go into law enforcement after that?
I have only known one person who was on a SWAT team and he was ex-enlisted. However, I think you are getting ahead of yourself. ROTC plus a college degree plus officer experience is much more marketable overall.
To be on a SWAT team, first you have to be a cop!
The path you take to becoming a cop could be any number of things. You could start out in the military as an MP, or just as an enlisted soldier; start out as a Criminal Justice major; start out as some other first-responder type job like EMT. But you have to be a cop in at least a semi-metropolitan city, and graduate from that department’s training program.
From there, I think being a part of the SWAT team comes down to physical fitness and teamwork skills. I’ve known many cops who were on SWAT (or CIRT, as it’s called here) teams. They’re all, first and foremost, street cops.
Military Police also have SWAT Teams, so it is possible for him to be both military and SWAT. He could also join the National Guard which would still give him the Veteran’s Preference for hiring with his local civilian law enforcement agency and join their SWAT team, making him both military and SWAT.
Most agencies I am familiar with require you to first be a police officer for a couple years (usually at least 3), then you can apply for special duties like marine patrol, bike patrol, horse patrol, motorcycle, SWAT, etc.
When positions becomes available on the team, SWAT will have a try out where all eligible officers compete for them.
I also know of some SWAT members who did not start as cops and are not even full time officers. These guys are actually paramedics with the Fire Department who try out for the Teams. SWAT Teams need tactical medics. These paramedics who make the cut are then (after meeting other certification requirements like police academy, are sworn in as officers). They have a badge and arrest powers and everything, but their full time job is with the Fire Department. They don’t play cop unless they are called out for a high-risk warrant or barricaded suspect or what have you. This is not a bad route to take sense he would not really be competing against many (or any) other personnel. The SWAT Team always needs medics who can make the cut! So he’d just be competing against himself to meet the standards.
Getting some tactical medic training would be a big plus. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to join the Army as a medic, serve his minimum time on active duty, then get out and use the GI Bill to pay for college while he works as a paramedic and pursues an additional duty as a TAC Medic with the SWAT Team.
… so many options. He can start now be doing two things. 1) Stay active, and stay in shape!! 2) Stay out of trouble!!! Watch those traffic tickets too!
In most big cities with SWAT teams other than NYC and LA, as I recall, the officers don’t just serve on the SWAT team. They do other police work and then are called in for SWAT duty only as needed; they’re not sitting around a station house all day, waiting for a call.
ex-military-turned-cop typically. they want you to have tactical field experience. and yes, SWAT is not a full-time gig. he’d more than likely have to be a full time police officer who was on the team as need arises.
there might be a tactical emphasis in a criminal justice degree as well.
29+ years of law enforcement, 25 with a very large department.
The OP assumes there will be a complex answer and that’s what they got, when in fact it’s not all that complicated.
The SWAT team is just one of any array of specialized assignments one can get in law enforcement. It is not a promotion, it’s just an assignment. Any officer can apply to be on it. Seniority, performance reviews, and open spaces on the team are the most important qualifications to getting on. Past experiences count, but not as much as you’d think. 90% of the SWAT officers I know had absolutely no military or previous law enforcement experience.
Get hired as a police officer, pass your probationary period (usually a year, sometimes longer) and then start applying to get on the specialized units.
Naturally not at all pertinent to the OPs request, but I do have an acquaintance within Piketen, the Swedish equivalent of SWAT. As mentioned above, its simply an assignment which one applies for within the police. It’s a full time job due to the different training and working hours, and the position has to be qualified for on a regular basis (physical and psychological requirements). As I’ve understood it, the psychological demands (extreme calm under stress) are more difficult than the physical ones.