History Main / SWATTeam

* SWAT teams first came into existence in the 1960s. [[TropeMaker The first team was a 100-man specialized unit established by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964]] in response to an alarming increase in bank robberies. The police wanted to be able to react quickly and decisively to bank robberies while they were in progress, by utilizing a large number of specially trained officers who had at their disposal a great amount of firepower. The tactic worked and was later soon to resolve other types of incidents involving heavily-armed criminals.

* Many U.S. cities don't use the term "SWAT". Common titles in include Emergency Response Team, Special Response Team, or Tactical Response Team.
* The [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops NYPD]] and the Port Authority Police are unique for law enforcement entities, in that the functions of a SWAT team (high risk warrant raids, hostage situations, counterterrorism, security details, etc.) are just one of many duties given to the Emergency Services Unit. ESU is assigned to handle any situation that requires advanced equipment and expertise, which include SWAT, serious car accidents (rollovers and extrications), building collapses and more.
** The NYPD does have one ESU detail that is strictly SWAT operations. It's known as the Apprehension Tactical Team or the "A-Team". It was founded in 1989 in order to supplement the ESU's sometimes overwhelming requirement to perform raids throughout the city (at the height of the crack epidemic). The A-Team strictly performs tactical missions which, on a day-to-day basis are typically High-Risk search warrants. The A-Team is widely considered to have the highest operational tempo of any US tactical team, sometimes performing as many as 800–1000 missions per year. The team can be called upon to support any unit within the NYPD, federal law enforcement agencies, or outside municipal police departments upon official request for tactical entries. Members of the A-Team are also utilized as tactical and firearms trainers for ESU and other NYPD units. The A-Team has participated in many of the city's most notable criminal take-down operations. Members of the team are recruited from within ESU, based on team needs and assignment to the team is highly selective. A-Team members are still required to maintain all of their periodic ESU certifications and proficiencies, and must be able to support the non-tactical ESU on any type of operation should the need arise.

* Japan does not have any units formally called "SWAT," but their closest equivalents would be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Assault_Team Special Assault Team]] under the National Police Agency. They operate as a mixture of regional/city-based [=SWATs=] and the FBI's HRT as they're deployed in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Fukuouka and Okinawa on a case-by-case basis if the local special police unit need assistance or the [=NPA=] deems it necessary for their intervention. Most of the time in the said places, they act as the city/prefectural SWAT unit.
** Other cities/prefectures have their own special police units to act in the place of the SAT in a local situation. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has the Special Investigation Team. The Osaka Prefectural Police has the Martial Arts Attack Team. Chiba Prefectural Police has the Assault Response Team. Saitama Prefectural Police has the Special Tactical Section. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police has the Special Investigation Section and the Aomori Prefectural Police has the Technical Special Team with the Hiroshima Prefectural Police has the Hostage Rescue Team.

** The Japan Coast Guard has the Special Security Team, its own anti-crime/terrorist unit that operate in Japanese territorial waters.
* The Reserve Unit of the Shanghai Municipal Police ([[OlderThanTelevision established in 1925]] by the legendary fighting instructor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Fairbairn William Fairbairn]]) is often considered the UrExample of the modern SWAT team. The Unit was literally kept in reserve at the SMP training depot and was used to quell riots and serve as an extra layer of security for important items or people in addition to fulfilling "typical" current SWAT duties. To aid with the Unit's training, Fairbairn also developed the Mystery House – the first "kill house"-style shooting range, designed to resemble a Chinese apartment building and complete with pop-up shoot/no-shoot targets and audio distractions.

* The Singaporean equivalent is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Tactics_and_Rescue_(Singapore) STAR (Special Tactics and Rescue)]], under the command of the Singapore Police Force's Special Operations Command. They mainly deal with counter-terrorism and crimes involving firearms.

* In ''Series/{{Phoenix}}'', another 1990's Australian series, thanks to the above-mentioned scandals the Major Crime squad has to show they have reasonable cause to believe the criminals are armed before they can even deploy the Special Operations Group. And this while they're investigating a case involving a [[CopKiller car bomb set off outside a police station.]] After a couple of incidents where they do a raid and find the crooks have an Uzi on the premises (fortunately not used) then later Lochie nearly gets shot with an elephant gun, they eventually get permission.

* In ''Phoenix'', another 1990's Australian series, thanks to the above-mentioned scandals the Major Crimes Unit has to show they have reasonable cause to believe the criminals are armed before they can even deploy the Tactical Response Group. And this while they're investigating a case involving a [[CopKiller car bomb set off outside a police station.]]

* The titular Chimera Squad of VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad is set up like this, being limited in jurisdiction to a single city, a role based around taking down criminal and terrorist threats, a focus on breaching tactics, and travelling around in an [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier wheeled APC.]]

*** In season 1's "Condemned", an ESU squad is summoned to a hostage situation where Matt Murdock has overpowered a rookie police officer who stumbled upon him and Vladimir in an abandoned building. This ESU squad is working for Wilson Fisk and have been tasked with murdering several cops at the scene. One ESU sniper goes to a nearby rooftop and guns down Detective Christian Blake (who had become a liability to Fisk) and two other cops (to make it look random), while the team that enters the building proceeds to kill the police officer Matt overpowered, and then kill off Vladimir as he takes [[SuicideByCop one last stand]].

*** "Aftermath": Anticipating that Matt will visit Melvin Potter upon noticing the fake Daredevil suit on Dex, Fisk sends an FBI SWAT team there to pick him up. Matt and Melvin fight off the SWAT team, though Melvin gets captured and Matt ends up having to flee.

*** In season 1's "Condemned", an ESU squad is summoned to a hostage situation where Matt Murdock has overpowered a rookie police officer who stumbled upon him and Vladimir in an abandoned building. This ESU squad is working for Wilson Fisk and have been tasked with murdering several cops at the scene. One ESU sniper goes to a nearby rooftop and guns down Detective Christian Blake (who had become a liability to Fisk) and two other cops (to cover it up), while the team that enters the building kills the police officer Matt overpowered, and then kill off Vladimir.

*** "Aftermath": Anticipating that Matt will visit Melvin Potter upon noticing the fake Daredevil suit on Dex, Fisk sends an FBI SWAT team there to pick him up. Matt and Melvin fight off the SWAT team, though Melvin gets arrested and Matt ends up having to flee.

*** Dinah Madani and Sam Stein feed some false information to a bug in Dinah's office to trick whoever's on the other end into thinking that Frank Castle will be making a gun buy at the second floor of an abandoned factory. Billy Russo and his men show up at the location, and subsequently open fire when the SWAT team reveals themselves. Several SWAT officers are killed in the gunfight, as are all of Russo's men. Before Russo escapes, he manages to corner and stab Sam to death with a retractable knife concealed in his right sleeve.

* The closest analogue to a SWAT in Russia and the Former Soviet Union is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMSN SOBR]] spetsnaz (formerly known as OMSN) which is under the authority of the National Guard. Like many special purpose police units, they were formed after the Munich Olympics tragedy. Like SWAT, they are rapid response paramilitary police units specializing in high-risk criminal arrests, counter-terrorism and cordoning. Unlike most SWAT teams however, they can be called upon by the Russian authorities to serve in a war zone, with SOBR being called to serve during the war in Chechnya. Another organization is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMON OMON]], an organization that acts as a special police unit with similar duties, and has since been also merged into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_Russia National Guard of Russia (FSVNG RF)]].

* The ''{{VideoGame/SWAT}}'' instalments of the ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' games obviously involve this, eventually progressing from a point-and-click adventure game to a top-down tactical simulator to tactical squad-based [[{{VideoGame/SWAT 3}} first-person]] [[{{VideoGame/SWAT 4}} shooters]]. The ''SWAT'' games heavily emphasize the use of proper police procedure: cuff every enemy, collect evidence, report all injured or dead people, always announce your presence and demand surrender before firing, and ''especially'' emphasis on trying to take down suspects alive. The latest game in the series is ''SWAT 4'', made by Creator/IrrationalGames (the team behind ''VideoGame/BioShock'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'').

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': In ''Sugar Rush'', King Candy's enforcers include a C.L.A.W team who accompany him, [[DonutMessWithACop Wynchell and Duncan]] when they try to apprehend Vanellope and Ralph at the Kart Bakery minigame.

SWAT teams in fiction are often inaccurately portrayed as opening fire immediately on suspects, or otherwise being TriggerHappy, or even deliberately killing suspects who present no immediate threat. In reality, as the page quote shows, SWAT serves as a life-saving police unit. The ideal objective when a SWAT team is sent in is that ''everyone''--hostage, bystander, operator, and suspect--comes out alive. SWAT officers have very specific procedures they usually have to follow; for example, a SWAT officer is supposed to clearly identify himself to a suspect, and can only open fire if the suspect raises a weapon or otherwise presents a threat to the life or safety of another.

* SWAT as we currently know them in municipal law enforcement was [[TropeCodifier best refined by the LAPD]]. After the Watts Riots in Los Angeles in 1965, the LAPD began considering tactics it could use when faced with urban unrest, rioting or widespread violence. Daryl Gates, who led the LAPD response to the riots, would later write that police at the time didn't face a single mob, but rather "people attacking from all directions." There was the fear of lone or barricaded gunmen who might outperform police in a shootout, as happened in Austin with Charles Whitman.

* In ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', the US Marshals have a SWAT Team among the Marshals guarding Alonzo Quinn. They prove to be ineffective against John Reese, who (while bleeding to death from barely treated gunshots) nonlethally curbstomps them to get to Quinn.

* The Japanese PoliceProcedural ''Crisis2017'' focuses on an [[PlausibleDeniability "unofficial"]] unit of the Special Investigation Team as they covertly dispose of terrorist threats to the state. The Special Assault Team also has a BigDamnHeroes moment in Episode 8.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[caption-width-right:350:SWAT officers practising their tactics.]]

* The [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops NYPD]] and the Port Authority are unique for law enforcement entities, in that the functions of a SWAT team (high risk warrant raids, hostage situations, counterterrorism, security details, etc.) are one of many duties given to the Emergency Services Unit. ESU is assigned to handle any situation that requires advanced equipment and expertise, which include SWAT, serious car accidents (rollovers and extrications), building collapses and more.
** That said, the NYPD does have one ESU team that is strictly SWAT operations. It's known as the Apprehension Tactical Team or the "A-Team". It was founded in 1989 in order to supplement the ESU's sometimes overwhelming requirement to perform raids throughout the city (at the height of the crack epidemic). The A-Team strictly performs tactical missions which, on a day-to-day basis are typically High-Risk search warrants. The A-Team is widely considered to have the highest operational tempo of any US tactical team, sometimes performing as many as 800–1000 missions per year. The team can be called upon to support any unit within the NYPD, federal law enforcement agencies or outside police departments upon official request for tactical entries. Members of the A-Team are also utilized as tactical and firearms trainers both within ESU and to other NYPD units. The A-Team has participated in many of the city's most notable criminal take-down operations. Members of the team are recruited from within ESU, based on team needs and assignment to the team is highly selective. A-Team members are still required to maintain all of their periodic ESU certifications and proficiencies, and must be able to support the ESU on any type of operation should the need arise.

*** The season 1 finale sees an FBI SWAT team escorting Fisk under guard to Rikers, until mercs working for Fisk ambush the convoy and try to free him. And then it turns out one of the officers in the truck has been paid off by Fisk.
*** Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter in season 3 is introduced as an FBI SWAT sniper assigned to bodyguarding Fisk as he's being transferred from Rikers to the Presidential Hotel. He ends up catching Fisk's attention after he singlehandedly kills an Albanian hit squad that kills several of his colleagues in an attempt to assassinate Fisk for snitching, and from there, gets slowly turned by Fisk into a professional hitman.

*** Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter in season 3 is an FBI SWAT sniper assigned to bodyguarding Fisk as he's being transferred from Rikers to the Presidential Hotel. He ends up catching Fisk's attention after he singlehandedly kills an Albanian hit squad that kills several of his colleagues in an attempt to kill Fisk for snitching.
*** "Aftermath" sees Matt have to fight off an FBI SWAT team that Fisk sends to Melvin Potter's workshop to pick him up (thinking Matt is behind Dex's attack on the ''Bulletin'').

** The most notable use of the SWAT team in the show is in the antepenultimate episode of season 1, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LSo8_fBE_k when they are about to arrest Avon Barksdale in his office]]. Jimmy [=McNulty=] sees the show of force as a little bit excessive, so he convinces Cedric Daniels that they can do better: they just simply walk up the stairs to the office like a walk in the park, wordlessly put the handcuffs on Avon, then walk out. The only words being when [=McNulty=] tells Stringer, "[[BadassBoast Catch you later]]."

** Season 4 sees the hostile Lt. Charles Marimow, installed in Major Crimes on Rawls' orders, utilize SWAT teams in a failed attempt to raid some of Marlo Stanfield's stash houses, but the information is bad and they only succeed in arresting some low-level members of Marlo's crew.

* Japan does not have any units formally called "SWAT," but their closest equivalents would be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Assault_Team Special Assault Team]] under the National Police Agency. They operate as a mixture of regional/city-based SWATs and the FBI's HRT as they're deployed in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Fukuouka and Okinawa on a case-by-case basis if the local special police unit need assistance or the [=NPA=] deems it necessary for their intervention. Most of the time in the said places, they act as the city/prefectural SWAT unit.

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': In ''Sugar Rush'', King Candy's enforcers include a C.L.A.M team who accompany him, [[DonutMessWithACop Wynchell and Duncan]] when they try to apprehend Vanellope and Ralph at the Kart Bakery minigame.

*** The FBI features a prominent role in season 3, and their SWAT teams come right with them.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Technomancer}}'', SWAT stands for Special Weapons and ''Talismans'', and they're meant to deal with criminals who have high-powered magic.