Editing Fragile:SWAT (section)

=Hazards=

SWAT officers are taught to watch out for obstacles to entry. These can include darkness, motion-sensors, guard dogs or family pets, and booby traps. Improvised traps can include fish hooks hung at face level (gah!), nails in flat boards under leaves or grass, razor blades embedded in stalks of marijuana to injure those pulling them out, aluminum cans hung to make noise. More sophisticated criminals may have other surprises for entry teams, especially if they have access to explosives. Other hazards to consider are collapsing floors or stairwells, cramped hallways, and flammable chemicals, such as those used in drug labs.


The book doesn't mention it, but SWAT teams are often taught a number of firing drills for shooting under specific circumstances and positions. These include the Mozambique Drill (or Failure Drill) for shooting a suspect twice in the chest and once in the head to ensure that they go down, and drills for firing one-handed, kneeling, or prone at a variety of angles. CQB can bring you into close contact with fists, knives (or other melee implements), handguns, automatic weapons, or even military-grade firearms. These encounters can be initiated from almost anywhere around you, and they usually happen very fast. As a result of these factors, its one of the more dangerous kinds of combat encounters; hence the specialized training. Nothing frightens a SWAT officer more than a dark enclosed space with well-armed, desperate suspects, sharp corners and poor cover. This is exactly the kind of environment the Vegas SWAT team is about to find itself in...