Independent Agency Looks at State SWAT Teams

Almost immediately, evaluator Ron McCarthy says he was impressed with the state’s 11 special operations units, otherwise known as SOUs.

TAPE: every single team voluntarily submitted themselves to this inspection.

The state Police Standards and Training Council hired McCarthy and his team to look at the practices, standards, protocols and equipment used by the 11 teams.

The teams are under scrutiny because in Charlestown last year, a civilian was killed, and a police officer was wounded, in an event that involved special operations members.

The Attorney General’s Office concluded after its investigation into the matter that “tactics used throughout the incident warranted further review.”

One area that really struck McCarthy- who works for the National Tactical Officers Association- was the teams’ commitment to minimizing physical harm.

He noted SOUs had sufficient caches of what are called ‘less-lethal’ weapons....items like TASERs and 12-gauge shotguns that use “sock” or beanbag rounds.

TAPE: they got the best equipment out there....and then you look did they back it up with the training. And they have. So where do you stack up, you are in the upper 10%.

The upper 10% at least compared to similarly sized communities.

McCarthy said there was no point comparing big city SWAT teams with big staffs and budgets to those in New Hampshire.

At the same time the review did find room for improvement.

Evaluators urged teams to double the training, from 8 to 16 hours a month, to increase training for commanders and other local police and- when possible add members.

Over the past year some attorneys have criticized SOUs for their lack of oversight.

In New Hampshire, some units exist within a particular police department like Manchester or Nashua.

Others, like the Seacoast Emergency Response Team, or the Western Special Operations Unit are regional teams made up of offices from several municipalities.

And while it’s clear the Manchester team ultimately is responsible to that city, it’s not as clear who regional teams must answer to.

But at least when it comes to membership on the teams, McCarthy says boards made up of police chiefs are heavily involved.

TAPE: the individual members who are selected to these teams are reviewed by the board of that SWAT team...and they look at...this is general, but pretty much across the board....the officer’s personnel history, did they have any use of force issues...they had a personnel interview.

Another question facing teams is whether all their members are up-to-date with training requirements.

Right now no one at the state level knows whether those officers are adequately prepared to handle dangerous situations.

McCarthy says Police Standards and Training could be involved in overseeing that members are in compliance.

TAPE: there is no problem with somebody asking are these people well chosen and are they trained and selected properly.

Police Standards and Training Vice-Chair Bill Wrenn- who is also the state’s Correction’s Commissioner, says this report raises the question whether the state should have more oversight of these teams.

TAPE: right now, police standards and training does set the professional standards and training requirements for the state when it comes to our law enforcement community. But we have yet to have oversight of any tactical teams in the state. So this is a pretty big leap if we were to go there.

Wrenn says he expects the Police Standards and Training Council to digest the report over the coming months.

In the short-term, the Council has voted to approve additional training for team leaders.

And it also voted to develop a model standards and protocols that any team could use.

For NHPR News, I’m DG.