2008-2009 Annual Report - Chandler Police Department

Special Assignment UnitOverviewby Sgt. Doug ScholzOver the past several years, the Chandler Police Department’sSpecial Assignment Unit (SAU) has made significant changesto the structure of the team. In 2004, the tactical team wasselected as one of six teams in Maricopa County to serve asa Rapid Response Team (RRT) for the State of Arizona’sUrban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program sponsoredby the Department of Homeland Security. As a result of thisselection, the Department was awarded grant funding to ensurecompliance with the RRT mission and meet the ever-changingdemands of local and national security. The team continues toreceive yearly grant funding to update and maintain missionreadiness.The team consists of one team commander, one tacticaloperations commander, six sergeants, twenty-four tacticaloperators, ten crisis negotiators, five support/robot technicians,two support officers, seven fire department medics and onevoluntary team physician. During the past year, the team as awhole recorded over 9,850 training hours to maintain compliancewith the National Tactical Officers Associations (NTOA) SWATstandards.Currently, the team is in the final phase of a complete newequipment rollout, consisting of specialty vehicles, body armor,and weapon systems. Recently, the team selected the Heckler andKoch HK416 carbine equipped with a Gemtech G5 suppressor,Aimpoint CompM3 optic and Surefire M900 tactical fore griplight as the standard issue weapon system. This system replacedthe aging Colt Commandos, which had been in service for over tenyears.12