SWAT deployments on swift pace this year
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Pittsburgh SWAT officers take position during a standoff in Lawrenceville on Wednesday. A juvenile was taken into custody at a house in the 3800 block of Howley Street.
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With their camouflaged uniforms, black helmets and semi-automatic rifles, Pittsburgh police's 39 SWAT officers look like an elite military unit.
But they don't "storm" buildings with guns blazing -- a common misperception among the public and the media, members say.
"Our goal is to bring everybody out alive," said Officer Stephen Mescan, a team leader.
Since the beginning of the year, the city's police bureau has been turning to SWAT to accomplish that goal at a rapidly increasing rate. As of yesterday, the team had been called into action 52 times, including three calls on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
In all of 2008, there were 83 deployments.
"At the pace we're going, we're going to be up 90 percent compared to last year," said Cmdr. Scott Schubert, who oversees SWAT.
The annual number has also been steadily rising, up from just 42 calls in 2005.
Cmdr. Schubert attributes the change to a growing awareness among police at all levels that SWAT is best prepared to deal with many high-risk encounters on the streets of Pittsburgh, such as suspects who are barricaded in houses and may be armed.
Both commanders and rank-and-file officers are more likely to turn to the team, which is made up mostly of part-time members who carry their SWAT gear at all times, even during off-duty hours, in case a call comes.
"Why jeopardize anybody when you have people who are trained and equipped to make these entries?" Cmdr. Schubert said. "Everybody recognizes their ability."
The annual number of deployments was up even before April 4, when a gunman in Stanton Heights killed three police officers responding to a domestic call -- and then fired dozens of shots at officers inside SWAT's heavily armored truck, shattering the windshield.
Suspect Richard Poplawski eventually surrendered.
A SWAT member fired a gun during only one other incident this year: on Jan. 8, when a marksman shot and killed Lamar Smith during a nine-hour standoff at an apartment building in North Point Breeze.
In 2006 and 2007, the team didn't fire a single shot during deployments.
Nationwide, SWAT teams also have been seeing more action, said John Gnagey, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, which sets standards and hosts annual training events. (Pittsburgh has been selected as the site of next year's annual conference.)
But usage varies widely from city to city. The team in Tulsa, Okla., saw a sharp drop in deployments in recent years because of "turmoil" within its ranks.
"They're back in a rebuilding process," Mr. Gnagey said.
Other police departments are reluctant to call out their teams because of overtime costs.
Pittsburgh SWAT has built a strong reputation across the country, Mr. Gnagey said, and his organization has invited team members to come to this year's conference, taking place in Tulsa in September, to talk about their experiences during the Stanton Heights tragedy.
"They're not afraid to come out and say, 'Here's what we did right, here's what we did wrong, and here's what we learned,'" Mr. Gnagey said.
Pittsburgh's team hasn't always received stellar reviews.
The city disbanded the full-time SWAT unit in August 2003 after budget shortfalls forced layoffs and a reorganization of the police bureau.
The next year, pressure for a new rapid response team increased when 30-year-old Alvin Starks kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Andrea Umphrey, and their baby daughter from a Sheraden church. He escaped from police in a van, triggering a 50-mile chase that ended in the death of Ms. Umphrey.
Then-police Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. proposed forming a part-time "Special Emergency Response Team," or SERT. Officer Mescan and several others helped reorganize the new team, modeling it on a Pennsylvania State Police unit.
At first, the new team had fewer than 20 members. But it soon grew to double the size, and it reclaimed the more recognizable name "SWAT," or Special Weapons and Tactics.
Only six members are full-time: Officers Mescan, Jeffrey Garris, Ronald Yosi, Carlos Schrader, Justin LaPaglia and Teddy Anderson, who leads the team's eight sharpshooters.
All others have primary jobs, some as patrol officers in the city's six police zones, others as detectives. The team operates out of the basement of the Zone 1 police station on the North Side. A sign on the door to the main office reads: "SWAT is a team. Check your ego at the door."
Rank doesn't matter; any of 14 "team leaders" with special training can take command of a scene, with officers sometimes giving orders to sergeants.
The key differences between SWAT and patrol officers are training and equipment. SWAT officers receive a minimum of 16 hours of extra training a month, while the team's sharpshooters spend yet another 16 hours practicing on the firing range.
Each member has a hefty gear bag, with a vest, helmet, goggles, mask, gloves, elbow and knee pads, radio, ammunition and energy bars to keep officers from going hungry at long standoffs.
The standard rifle for many members is the Colt M4 Carbine, a civilian version of the M16.
The team also packs a police wagon with "less lethal" weapons, such as tear gas and flash bangs (which are often confused with grenades). Battering rams and crowbars are used for entering structures.
This summer, the team will announce tryouts for seven open spots. Officer Mescan, who helps conduct tryouts, said he expects about 80 applicants, although some may shy away when they learn of the round-the-clock commitment of being a SWAT officer.
The tryout is a grueling two-week course that includes intense firearms practice, hostage scenarios, written tests and constant drilling on the basic principles of SWAT -- such as never forgetting key pieces of equipment.
For instance, if one person shows up at a drill without a gas mask, everyone -- including instructors -- must drop to the ground and do push ups.
"The team ethos is being part of something bigger than themselves," said Officer Mescan.
First Published May 1, 2009 12:00 am
