Preparedness key for tactical response team

Lawrence’s SWAT team was started in 1993.

By: Lea Kahn
   What does the suburban Lawrence Township Police Department have in common with its counterparts in larger cities, including the Trenton Police Department?
   Its own SWAT team — or Tactical Response Team, as the Lawrence Township Police Department calls its eight-member special operations team.
   The Tactical Response Team was started by police Capt. Thomas Weber in 1993, in response to a series of school-related violence issues nationwide, said Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny.
   "It was thought to be better to be prepared to respond (to an incident)," Chief Posluszny said, explaining why the Lawrence police created its Tactical Response Team. The first team numbered six police officers, but it has grown to eight members.
   The team responds to five to 10 incidents per year — but only as a last resort, Chief Posluszny said. Police prefer to negotiate with a suspect to resolve a situation, but the team is ready to respond if that doesn’t work, he said.
   The team is called in when an arrest warrant for a serious crime is being served on someone that police believe is armed and dangerous, for example. If someone barricades himself inside a building and has taken a hostage, the team would respond if police could not talk the suspect into releasing the victim, he said.
   Depending on the seriousness of the incident, however, the Lawrence Tactical Response Team would call in its counterparts from the Ewing Township, Hamilton Township or Trenton police departments and then play a supporting role, Chief Posluszny said. The New Jersey State Police and the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department also have special tactical response teams.
   Those teams have agreed to undertake training that is more stringent than the training that the Lawrence team undergoes, Chief Posluszny said. The teams train to the new standards set out by the Mercer County prosecutor’s office. Lawrence chose not to meet those training requirements because of the costs involved, he added.
   However, all of the Lawrence team members are required to train monthly for a four- to eight-hour session, Chief Posluszny said. The team members practice moving through various types of buildings and settings, including schools, he said.
   The team also practices with special weapons, including submachine guns, semiautomatic rifles and a sniper rifle, he said. They practice shooting their weapons in a small-room setting. They must qualify on the practice range four times a year, as compared to patrol officers who must qualify twice a year.
   A member of the Tactical Response Team is assigned to each patrol shift, he said. That team member drives a patrol car that carries all of the special gear in the trunk — including weapons, bulletproof vests, helmets and other protective devices and equipment.
   Police officers are recruited for the team, Chief Posluszny said. The Police Department looks for officers who can handle the high level of stress that goes along with the types of incidents to which the team responds, he said.
   The team members also must be able to handle the strenuous physical activity that is required, and they must be experienced in handling the special weapons used by the team, the police chief said.
   "We need people who can think on their feet because they are on a dangerous assignment," Chief Posluszny said. "You have to be able to think fast and be flexible."