United States Park Police - USPP SWAT Team

USPP SWAT Team

The United States Park Police Special Weapons and Tactics Team has been in existence since 1975. This highly trained team is proficient with a variety of weapons including submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and less-than-lethal weaponry. The SWAT unit conducts weekly high-risk search warrants and provides vehicular escorts and motorcade support for the President of the United States, the Vice President, and visiting heads of state in the District as well as at Camp David. The Park Police SWAT team often provides tactical support to the many demonstrations in Washington, D.C. Also, in conjunction with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Casualty Care Research Center, SWAT has trained thousands of personnel from police departments, military units, and fire departments from the United States and abroad in tactical emergency medicine as part of the CONTOMS program.

SWAT conducts basic SWAT schools annually, which are routinely attended by members from outside departments and the United States Armed Forces. The physically and mentally grueling basic training allows officers to see what they are capable of under extreme fatigue and stress. You can also see the SWAT team in their armored vehicle at demonstrations on the mall such as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, the Restoring Honor rally, United States presidential inaugurations, the National Christmas Tree Lighting, and other major national events in the DC area.

When the Washington Metropolitan area was under siege during the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks, the SWAT Unit was flying daily missions with the Aviation Unit in an attempt to apprehend the fugitives. During the Norman Mayer incident in the early 1980s the USPP SWAT team counter-sniper unit took action from the top of the Herbert C. Hoover Building into a moving vehicle at the Washington Monument.