SWAT training held in Bentonville
Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008
BENTONVILLE - Suited up in heavy armor and equipped with assault rifles, officers with the Bentonville Police Department and the Benton County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team raided a house on Southeast Blake Street.
"We cannot ensure your safety if you do not come out ! "Bentonville police Lt. Mike Smith yelled to the house as other officers continued to scan the area.
Bodies were recovered, shots were fired and the scene was cleared.
The scenes were played out and the tension was high. But none of it was real. It was all part of an intense, week-long Special Weapons and Tactics training session the officers are undergoing in various spots throughout Bentonville.
In Thursday's scenario, the SRT was conducting a drill for a felony search warrant for the sale of methamphetamine.
"Think if this was real life, and all the pressure you'd have from this," said Smith, dripping with sweat after he removed his helmet, guzzled down a bottle of Gatorade and caught his breath.
The week-long session has included classroom work, as well as intense, hands-on activity training in learning to clear buildings, defensive tactics and methods of communication among the officers.
It requires a lot of precision, bravery and patience, Smith said - and because of the equipment used and its expense, this training happens only about once every three years.
The teams received training from Wade Rorich, operating manager with Bushido Tactical, a military / law-enforcement training service in Oldsmar, Fla.
Bushido is a Japanese code of conduct, literally meaning "the way of the warrior."
Rorich has been training officers for 14 years - the first half of that in his home country of South Africa.
One new piece of equipment the officers learned on is called a ball-camera, a small, black, baseball-sized camera that can be thrown into a room to reveal a 360-degree view that officers can see from a monitor.
The camera enables officers to scope out the scene without being in harm's way.
The cameras have been donated to all local lawenforcement agencies with SRT units, Smith said.
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