Published: June 20, 2008 08:56 am         

Aiming for Trouble

Mineral Wells hosts training exercises, classes for police SWAT team members

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

Today wraps up the last day of Special Weapons and Tactics training for a group of law enforcement personnel who participated in the first SWAT school hosted in Mineral Wells in 12 years.

Sgt. Patrick Adams estimated the last time Special Weapons and Tactics training was offered in Mineral Wells was in the fall of 1996. This year, the group had 11 officers registered but after Sunday’s physical training, the number dropped to nine. Three of the participants are from the Mineral Wells Police Department while others hail from Bee County, Marlin Police Department and Panola County, among others.

“We provide the facilities to train in (and) ferry them from place to place,” Mineral Wells Police Capt. Mike McAllester said. “I think we’re kind of centrally located for a lot of agencies and possess a lot of facilities at our disposal.”

“They train in many different facets of law enforcement duties. It’s all specialized training.”

According to Adams, the group began Sunday afternoon at the Mineral Wells High School track where the physical requirements they underwent were “to demonstrate the importance of physical fitness for this assigned task.”

The students also practiced entry procedures and other elements of building sweeps at the high school and a couple of vacant homes in Mineral Wells under the direction of Texas Engineering Extension Service Central Texas Police Academy Training Manager Lee Santo and Steve Brock, from the College Station Police Department. Another hands-on aspect of the course was exposure to CS gas, which is a chemical gas, not like pepper spray, McAllester explained.

Adams elaborated that the group learned “how to work as a team, covert searches, reconnaissance, weapons safety, shooting, night time exercises.”

He added that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement requires at least 60 hours of training.

McAllester explained that each participant has “to qualify expert with firearms – with side arms, rifles and shotguns. Typically, they’re our best marksmen.”

“Our mission is to accomplish our mission with no loss to civilian life nor law enforcement life,” Adams said.

Once the nine men complete their training today, they will be receive their basic certification.

The course, Adams explained, is a tuition-paid course where the officers’ departments supply their tuition. According to the police captain, because Mineral Wells hosted the event, “We got one free slot in the school. We only had to pay for two officers.”

The Mineral Wells SWAT team was formed 1994 and is comprised of eight members. McAllester said there is a possibility they will offer to host other SWAT training schools in the future.