Some schools with criminology programs give their students the option of taking courses where police tactics, including SWAT team tactics, are taught. Universities in Florida offering criminology and/or criminal justice programs include University of Florida, Florida A&M, and Florida State University. SWAT team training at these schools is generally limited to paper training, which is given to the students for pedagogical purposes only.
Schools with campus police departments provide SWAT team training to select officers. Although no schools in Florida have full-fledged SWAT teams, the University of Florida has a Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), which is trained in SWAT tactics and procedures. The University of Florida Police Department has a training department, where selected CIRT officers are educated in SWAT team tactics and procedures. Members of the University of Florida Police Department are directly responsible for training CRT team recruits.
Some police academies send recruits to train at universities and colleges as a supplement to their academy education. Based on this system, some universities have ties to police departments. Florida State University (FSU) is an example of one such school. Officers from the police academies of local police departments often send recruits to FSU for extra training.
Some schools that have physical education departments provide combative training for SWAT team recruits. University of Florida works with regional police departments to train police academy recruits and has a kinesiology department that participates in the combat training of police officers, including SWAT team members. Special training for SWAT team members may include high-risk rescues and advanced combat.