When SWAT teams are used, why, and how much it costs

When SWAT teams are used, why, and how much it costs

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SALT LAKE CITY — When most people think about tanks, tactical armor and military-grade weapons, they often picture a war zone. These things, however, also play a role in local law enforcement and are used particularly by metropolitan SWAT teams.

While many people have a general idea of what SWAT teams are and look like, not all may be aware of the various reasons SWAT teams get called out or the sort of costs that go into funding SWAT. Knowing these things contributes to a better public understanding of law enforcement operations.

What is SWAT?

The acronym SWAT stands for “Special Weapons and Tactics,” a focus that sets SWAT teams apart from other law enforcement teams and units. According to standards laid out by the National Tactical Officers Association, SWAT officers should be capable of dealing with situations involving hostage rescue, barricaded gunmen, sniper operations, terror threats and high-risk security, and warrant operations.

SWAT teams exist “to deal with situations where most patrol officers can’t deal with it,” said Lt. Erik Knutzen with Utah County Metro SWAT. “Typically, you’re dealing with barricade subjects, extremely high-risk search warrants, hostage situations. (These) are kind of usually the majority of what we train for.”

Crisis negotiation teams, one focus of SWAT operations, are used primarily in hostage negotiations to “work with the person in crisis towards a peaceful solution that previously seemed impossible,” according to an article written by retired New York police officer and hostage negotiator Hugh McGowan, and Lipscomb University professor Jeff Thompson.

Tactical response teams, on the other hand, are “typically formed to address one or more mission capabilities other than hostage rescue operations, such as warrant service, barricaded subjects or some type of high-risk security operations,” as noted in a 2015 report from the National Tactical Officers Association.

The SWAT teams in Utah are used for various purposes.

For instance, the Salt Lake team is used mainly for serving dangerous search warrants, as well as for hostage and barricade situations, Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer told KSL.com. Occasionally, the Salt Lake SWAT team will be used to give "diplomatic protection" for high-profile speakers and politicians, Shearer said.

Similarly, the St. George City Police Department's SWAT team is primarily used for serving high-risk warrants, or "if there is an active shooter situation," St. George police public information officer Lona Trombley told KSL.com.

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Utah County Metro SWAT's Knutzen told KSL.com their decision to use a SWAT team is determined using a document called a "threat assessment matrix" that determines the level of risk a suspect or person of interest poses. If the matrix reaches a high enough number, agencies then deploy SWAT teams.

Use of threat assessment matrixes is not limited to SWAT teams in Utah, and many police departments throughout the country rely on this type of assessment to determine threats, according to a report by Virginia law enforcment specialist Thomas Bullock.

How often are Utah SWAT teams used?

The Utah County, Bountiful, Unified, Salt Lake and West Valley teams are among the largest in Utah and cover some of the most populated areas in the state. They also deploy their SWAT units at surprisingly different rates.

“You know, it’s hard to gauge it,” Knutzen said when asked how often the Utah County Metro SWAT unit was used. But he said, on average, they carry out eight to 10 operations a year throughout the county. However, he said, they have seen "many more than that," he said.

Similarly, the West Valley SWAT team dealt with 13 cases in 2016 and eight in 2017, West Valley Police Department records officer Kent Jensen told KSL.com in response to a public records request. So far this year, the West Valley team has responded to two cases, Jensen said.

On average, the Bountiful SWAT team does "around 12 to 14" callouts a year, Bountiful Metropolitan SWAT commander Edward Biehler told KSL.com.

By contrast, Salt Lake police's SWAT team sees approximately 50 operations a year, according to Sgt. Shearer. He was not sure how many they had responded to so far in 2018.

SWAT members search for a fugitive in Herriman on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)
SWAT members search for a fugitive in Herriman on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)

In 2012, the Unified Police Department SWAT Team reported its “busiest year ever” with 56 operations and “over 17,600 hours in training and operations,” according to the SWAT team’s website.

A public records request showed that the Unified Police Department SWAT team carried out 68 operations and callouts in 2014, 50 in 2015, 44 in 2016 and 57 in 2017. In 2017, 46 of the operations were for warrant service while 11 were for barricade situations. As of late April, UPD SWAT has carried out 14 operations and callouts, eight for warrant service, five for barricade situations and one for hostage rescue.

Because of its size and resources, Knutzen said the Utah County team will occasionally do callouts to other counties if they need assistance.

Biehler, the assistant police chief in Bountiful, said Bountiful Metropolitan SWAT also provides agency assists for North Salt Lake, Unified police and Davis County.

"We have great working relationships with teams around us," Biehler said.

How much does it cost?

The Utah County Metro SWAT Team has an annual budget of close to $40,000, Knutzen said. The public funding is allotted by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the SWAT team. The budget covers ammunition and overtime training costs.

“And then we have a bit of upkeep on the weapons systems we use as well,” Knutzen said. “We have to change those out every few years simply because we want to make sure they are functioning properly.”

While some may be skepital about the use of military-grade equipment in domestic situations, SWAT teams say they exist to prevent injury and death, both of officers and members of the public. The Unified SWAT team said on its website that it has one primary mission, and that mission is to "save lives."

Salt Lake City Police SWAT team members download their gear after peacefully ending a barricaded individual situation in the area of 1450 W American Avenue on Sunday, March 4, 2018. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)
Salt Lake City Police SWAT team members download their gear after peacefully ending a barricaded individual situation in the area of 1450 W American Avenue on Sunday, March 4, 2018. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)

Knutzen said officers are often on duty and can respond when called out for a SWAT response. But, if the call comes when they are off shift, that is when overtime kicks in.

“And that’s typically where the expense comes,” Knutzen said.

Biehler with Bountiful Metropolitan SWAT agreed, and said overtime "definitely (is) the biggest part of the ongoing costs."

SWAT teams also have to deal with high "startup" costs, Biehler said, including buying costly tactical equipment. But, not including maintenance, these are one-time costs, Biehler added.

The $40,000 allotted to Utah County Metro SWAT operations is only a small fraction of the Utah County Sheriff's Office's budget. According to a Utah government transparency site, the sheriff's office had an expense budget of about $45 million in 2017.

The Utah County Metro SWAT Team consists of officers from multiple cities, including Springville, Spanish Fork, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Lehi and Eagle Mountain. While overtime pay is a significant expense for the SWAT team, Knutzen said other departments will pay the overtime costs if an officer works for them. So, for example, if a SWAT officer works for the Springville City Police Department, then the Springville Police Department will pay the overtime costs for that officer. Therefore, the Utah County Metro SWAT budget only has to cover the overtime of officers not affiliated with other departments.

Biehler said the same was true of the Bountiful team, which has officers from Bountiful, West Bountiful, Woods Cross, Centerville, Farmington and Kaysville police departments.

As for how much of the overall police budget the Bountiful Metropolitan SWAT receives, "it just kind of gets weighed by what's most important," Biehler said. Depending on the requests, SWAT might get more funding for operations, "but then there's other times when they get a much smaller part of the budget."

Biehler said he did not have the Bountiful team's annual budget readily available.

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The budget for the Salt Lake SWAT team varies between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, Shearer said. Some years it might be higher, "depending on equipment costs or whatever, but that's kind of the average."

The SWAT budget is less than 1 percent of the overall Salt Lake City Police Department budget which, according to Shearer, was $67 million in 2017.

West Valley police officer Jensen said the SWAT team's annual budget is $55,560.

As for St. George police, Trombley said, "I don't have that information. I'd have to do some research to answer that question."

'Swatting'

While SWAT teams often get tips on dangerous situations, some of these instances end up being hoaxes. On March 25, a family in Hooper was surprised when they looked out the window and saw police in body armor surrounding their house. As KSL.com reported, SWAT was called to the family's residence as a prank.

But a prank can quickly turn deadly. When Wichita police responded to a hoax emergency call in December 2017, the confrontation outside a Kansas man's house ended in that man's death. The hoax call was allegedly made following an online dispute over the video game "Call of Duty," the Associated Press reported.

Police are concerned about the danger that swatting calls cause innocent civilians, as well as the departmental costs of carrying out operations that end up being pranks. As Lt. Travis Lyman of the Layton Police Department said following an April 2016 SWAT raid that was promted by a prank call, a lot of police resources have been wasted responding to hoax calls, according to a KSL article at the time.

Around the country, there have been police departments that respond to these types of calls and, as a result, people have gotten hurt, Orem Police Department's Lt. Craig Martinez told KSL in Febuary 2015.

"It's a serious problem," Martinez said. "I know people have been caught calling in these prank swatting phone calls and have actually been sentenced to prison."

Law enforcement officers gear up for the rifle range during the 3rd annual Mountain States SWAT Competition at the Thistle Gun Range in Thistle on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, KSL)
Law enforcement officers gear up for the rifle range during the 3rd annual Mountain States SWAT Competition at the Thistle Gun Range in Thistle on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, KSL)

To prevent unnecessary injury or death, as well as waste of resources, Trombley said the St. George police, unlike some agencies, like Las Vegas Metro, does not send out the SWAT team "without having officers respond first" and verify threats. Because of this verifying measure, "I don't know that (anyone) could 'SWAT' us, necessarily," Trombley said.

Shearer said the same goes for Salt Lake SWAT.

"Our patrol initially responds on anything like that," said Shearer, "and it takes officers arriving and verifying some stuff before our SWAT team is ever called."

Shearer said he wouldn't say the department hasn't had people call in and make false claims before, but patrol officers verify threats "long before" the SWAT team gets called.

Bountiful's Biehler said their SWAT team hasn't dealt with swatting calls, "but it's definitely something that weighs heavy on the team commander and team leader's minds."

"We ask a lot of questions before we just immediately send a team out," Biehler said. "But we have never actually had to deal with that (swatting), no."

If someone did call in a hoax threat, however, Trombley said "there would be a consequence" for them doing so, such as being charged with abusing 911 emergency services.

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