SWAT training is a type of law enforcement training designed to enhance law enforcement agents' ability to function as a team in specific dangerous and challenging tactical situations. SWAT training is a type of professional development for enhancing the skills of law enforcement officers to enable them to handle hostage situations, explosives threats and other rare emergency scenarios. In Missouri, SWAT training must abide by POST standards for content and trainer qualifications in order to certify state personnel to operate a SWAT team.
Bear Creek Tactical, MO-TAC Systems and SOTT-I Programs are three private training facilities in Missouri that offer SWAT training classes for law enforcement personnel. Bear Creek Tactical offers SWAT training alongside other handgun and marksmanship classes for members of the public, while MO-TAC and SOTT-I both specialize in training for law enforcement and security professionals. The Missouri Police Chiefs Charitable Foundation also provides periodic training for Missouri law enforcement officers on specialized topics that sometimes include tactical training.
SWAT training programs in Missouri offer basic and advanced SWAT courses, as well as a variety of related courses, such as sniper and observer training, executive and dignitary protection training, emergency medicine, SWAT operations in correctional facilities, military operations, special weapons training and other situational training in specialized areas of law enforcement.
The skills and topics covered by a SWAT training course in Missouri include SWAT strike planning, intelligence gathering, description of structures and vehicles, covert entry, stairway tactics, hostage rescue, alternate entry points, use of a gas mask, drills for a downed officer, basic and tactical shooting techniques and tactical shield use. Courses may also include planning of arrests and legal issues surrounding SWAT operations.
The trainers selected to instruct SWAT training at Missouri training centers include veteran SWAT officers from law enforcement departments, state and federal agencies or the military, as well as veterans from SWAT-related areas such as search and rescue. The Missouri POST Commission also provides a Subject Matter Experts list with contact information for experts in Defense Tactics and Firearms for interested law enforcement offices.
Equipment used in the SWAT training courses provided by Missouri training centers includes the officer's primary weapon, a handgun, tactical gear, distraction devices, wet and cold weather gear and a gas mask, while participants at some centers, like Bear Creek Tactical, may also be required to bring their own knee and elbow pads and protective equipment for hearing and vision.
The length of a SWAT training course in Missouri varies from a five to 14 days of full-day training. The cost for programs at Missouri training centers ranges from $600 to $1,000 depending on the program length, the training provider and the level of training included in the course.