Lawmen go head-to-head at annual SWAT contest

DARBY TOWNSHIP >> The attention to detail in safety precautions was among the standout themes in the annual SWAT Competition at the Delaware County Emergency Services Training Center on Thursday.

Competing in a variety of team-based obstacles course challenges, long rang shooting, and officer down scenarios, the challenges were designed to test physical, technical and decision making skills required in critical operations.

Before entering the shoot house, which the shouts of officers directing commands rattled inside the cement walls and tin roof, each officer from teams in Haverford, Upper Darby, Central Delco, Chester City and Region 1, were patted down for live ammunition and instead armed with airsoft pellet rifles. Rather than using the paintball guns of previous years, the airsoft rifles offer a realistic feel rather than the “martian space rifles” that the dealer, Patriot Armory from Delaware, jokingly referred.

U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, paid a visit to thank the officers personally.

“We appreciate what it means for you to be at the front line each and every day,” Meehan said. “Thanks a lot.”

In 2015, Meehan introduced a bipartisan antiSwatting bill, which aims to combat attacks that involve intentionally misleading emergency responders in order to provoke a SWAT team response. In recent years, swatting has become a widely used tool for online harassers to attack journalists, academics, domestic violence survivors and celebrities.

Thursday, Meehan met young students from Delaware County Vo-Tech schools involved in various EMS, fire and police studies, who were used as decoys in the operations to add some distractions to the SWAT operations as they worked inside the shoot house. After raising their hands up high, many laid down prone with camera phones in hand to capture the action.

The Upper Darby Police Department took first place in the competition and were congratulated with plaques by county District Attorney Jack Whelan.

RICK KAUFFMAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Students from various Delaware County Vo-Tech schools dealing with fire, police and EMS participated in exercises as distractions to the SWAT teams in the shoot house.

RICK KAUFFMAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA A tactical ballistic shield is designed to deflect bullets fired at the carrier, which makes sense that the shield carrier would be the first through the door in SWAT operations.

RICK KAUFFMAN — DFM Officers often use airsoft guns rather than paintball guns in training exercises because of their realistic qualities.