Ninety percent boredom and 10 percent sheer terror -- that's how tactical
officer Ken Pence describes the job.
Sound terrible? Believe it or not, Pence doesn't think so. He's a tactical
officer with a Nashville SWAT team, and wouldn't trade the experience for
anything in the world.
"Tactical officers spend a lot of their time preparing for an emergency.
When a situation does happen and your team performs at its best, there's no
feeling like it," says Pence.
SWAT team members like Pence are specially trained to assist police with
high-risk arrests. This can involve anything from an armed robbery to a hostage
situation to a barricaded house. Tactical officers place themselves strategically
around the suspect or building and then try to coax a surrender.
"It can take hours, or even days, for a suspect to decide to make a move.
It can get pretty boring sitting and waiting in one position while a suspect
decides what to do."
So where does the terror come in? If a suspect won't respond to negotiations
and becomes a direct threat to civilians or officers, the tactical team has
to force the suspect to give up. Often this involves flushing the suspect
out of a building with tear gas, but sometimes tactical officers have to go
face-to-face.
"By the time we have to approach a suspect, you pretty much know the guy
is crazy or really dangerous, since he hasn't responded to the negotiator,"
says Pence. "No amount of training can mentally prepare you for what it's
like. Terror. Sheer terror."
Pence remembers one case in which this terror was particularly real for
him. A drug dealer had barricaded himself inside a house. He was high and
was threatening to blow up the building, so Pence and his team of tactical
officers went in to apprehend him.
"We crawled in through the heating ducts -- there was no other way to sneak
up on him. We surrounded him and I ordered him to drop his weapon. There was
a second when I thought he was going to shoot me. Then suddenly he got this
crazed expression on his face, drew his gun up to his head and shot himself.
"It's not like...the television shows about SWAT teams -- we're not hardened
about death. Watching this guy shoot himself is an image I won't forget."
Pence is quick to point out that such terrifying situations are the minority
in a tactical officer's job. He says suspects usually realize there is no
way out, and give themselves up long before a situation reaches the showdown
stage.
Most criminals aren't prepared to come up against a well-trained SWAT team,
and when they do, the odds are against them. Tactical officers receive extensive
training in gun handling, hand-to-hand combat and invisible approach -- sneaking
up on a suspect -- but most important is their ability to work as a team.
"Team is the operative word here," says Pence. "SWAT teams aren't looking
for the individual hero. The best cops in the world might make a lousy tactical
officer if they can't work well in a team."
Tactical officer Kelly Gallant completely agrees with Pence. She says she
knows teamwork is the basis of her job. "It really brings home the concept
of working together in a team environment. It teaches you how to help each
other out no matter what the situation," she says.
SWAT teams, usually made up of eight to 20 officers, train together to
learn to how to work well as a team. This involves using good communication
skills, both verbal and non-verbal. When decisions have to be made in a split
second, tactical officers don't have time to talk about them. They must know
exactly what each signal means and respond accordingly.
Teamwork is especially important when a SWAT team is protecting an important
dignitary. Pence and his team have been responsible for the security of the
president during a motor tour through their city. These tours are very complicated
for tactical officers, since a sniper could be hidden anywhere along the route.
"We have to be aware of every open window, every car going by and every
person in the crowd. We have to keep each other well informed and stay on
our toes. Something could happen at any time," says Pence.
Whether it's protecting the president or rescuing a hostage, Pence's job
as a tactical officer is always full of suspense -- which is precisely what
he loves about it.
"Even when nothing is going on, you are always expecting the unexpected.
It's sheer adrenaline. I'm addicted to it," admits Pence.