Introduction
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams are important in law enforcement. The first official SWAT team was created by the Los Angeles Police Department in the mid-1960s, and by the 1970s, most major metropolitan police departments had them as well (18,30). Since then, the number of teams has grown in number, sophistication, and frequency of operations (15). According to survey research done in 1995, about 90% of police departments serving populations of 50,000 or more had teams (18). This was double the amount of departments that had them in the 1980s and speaks to the continual growth in the number of teams since the first one was created (19). Despite this long history, little is known about the physical fitness requirements or the physical fitness training of SWAT officers.
Officers who wish to be a member of the SWAT team must meet several criteria. Suggested standards for training SWAT officers have been established by the National Tactical Officer Association to ensure that officers are equipped to respond to emergency and high-risk situations on a daily basis, including any threat of terrorism (22). However, in a survey study of police departments in North Carolina, it was determined that the criteria to become a SWAT officer may vary considerably from department to department (2). Most teams required a positive work history, a set minimum number of years in the department, specific minimum scores for firearm qualification, physical fitness tests, and a positive recommendation of a supervisor. It was also found that larger departments use several qualification criteria more frequently than smaller departments. These criteria included physical tests, psychological screening, and special tests (not physical or firearms testing). Interestingly, departments with less than 200 officers require special tactical training as qualification criteria more often than larger departments do (2).
Because SWAT teams have duties that are beyond the scope of normal law enforcement personnel, it is logical to assume that SWAT teams perform at a higher physical workload than what typical law enforcement officers may encounter (23). Therefore, it would be helpful to know what physical characteristics are important for SWAT officers to possess. Although no single element of physical fitness has been identified as being of paramount importance, high aerobic capacity seems to support ideal performance for SWAT members, at least for all job-related tasks that have been studied (23). However, this study used a small sample size that may have limited the external validity of the findings. Furthermore, the study involved only a suburban SWAT team, and the training and job-related tasks between small suburban teams and larger teams can be variable (3,23). Limited research exists concerning the physical and physiological demands of SWAT officer activities, especially when considering the difference in part-time and full-time SWAT workload.
Some physical differences characterize full-time vs. part-time SWAT personnel. It has been noted that part-time SWAT officers display greater mean body fat percentage (19.5%) compared with full-time officers (10.7%) (3). Full-time SWAT officers also exhibited better anaerobic power endurance in the 300-m run than part-time SWAT officers. Full-time officers ranked between the 95th and 99th percentile based on the Cooper Institute for Aerobics research norms for non-SWAT officers, whereas part-time officers ranked between the 30th and 90th percentile. Full-time officers ranked in the 99th percentile for vertical jump height compared with 75th–90th percentile for part-time officers. There were also large differences in performance of sit-up and push-up tests, respectively. The differences in performance of these selected tasks (effect sizes ranging from 1.7 to 3.9) could be attributed to the difference in body fat percentage between the groups, as increased fat mass can hinder performance. It could also possibly be because of the increased level of training of full-time SWAT personnel in the study and the guidance they received from the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who designed their programs (3). It should be noted that the tests used in the study by Dawes et al. (3) include tests for regular law enforcement officers (Cooper Institute) that may not predict occupational performance for SWAT. However, insufficient research currently exists delineating the difference between the training levels of full- and part-time SWAT teams nationwide to have a basis for making this assumption.
Increased body fat percentage has been identified as a possible hindrance to job performance (3), but body mass is more commonly measured because of logistical demands of body fat testing. One study done with recreationally trained men (military) found that body mass explained little variance in 3–12%. Performance measures included a 400-m run, 30-m rush, obstacle course, vertical jump, horizontal jump, 2-minute push-ups, 2-minute sit-ups, and a 3.2-km run. This study did not compare body fat percentages, and if that had been analyzed, it may have been possible to see a negative influence on performance with the assessments. The authors did find that the 30-m rush and 400-m run tests were moderately correlated to well correlated with performance on all tests that simulated physical performance (9).
Little is known about the exact training practices of SWAT teams. The SWAT officers may have to perform a myriad of tasks during an operation, including climbing over obstacles or barriers, dragging injured team members, restraining a subject, and lifting various objects (3,11,21,25,28). The ability of a SWAT officer to perform mission tasks effectively may affect their survival and the success of the team. Intelligent physical training can help SWAT officers perform mission tasks more effectively. Therefore, it would be beneficial to know how long SWAT teams conduct physical fitness training, the focus of training, and if anything is tested to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Little research has been conducted to assess the training and testing practices of SWAT teams. Information gathered about the training and testing practices of SWAT teams can be compared with the tasks they perform during callouts to ensure training specificity. It can also be compared with the practices of strength coaches in major sports leagues, which have been assessed by previous research (6–8,27). The job of these strength and conditioning coaches depends on how well they prepare their athletes to perform. Therefore, it is possible that some of their practices could be adopted by SWAT teams to facilitate effective training strategies.
Our study collected the self-reported perceived importance and difficulty of physical tasks in SWAT callouts, in addition to their frequency. We also gathered detailed information on the physical fitness training of SWAT officers. This knowledge could benefit trainers of SWAT teams when they are attempting to create training plans for the officers. These plans could be tailored to the tasks SWAT officers routinely perform to help them achieve a higher level of performance. Tests could possibly be developed to assess the capabilities of officers to perform these mission critical tasks. These tests could be used to screen applicants or to check the effectiveness of a training program on improving the performance of the officers.
Methods
Experimental Approach to Problem
Despite the increasing number and use of SWAT teams, little research has examined the physically demanding tasks (mission critical tasks) most commonly seen by SWAT teams on callouts. This study conducted a cross-sectional nationwide survey of SWAT team members. The survey was designed using Qualtrics software (Qualtrics Labs Inc, Provo, UT, USA), which also managed the distribution and collection of the surveys. The survey is separated into 3 main sections (see Appendix A, Supplemental Digital Content 1, https://links.lww.com/JSCR/A17): demographics, physical requirements, and physical training. The demographics section gathered information on rank, sex, and self-reported height and weight, in addition to information on the particular SWAT team on which the individual serves and its jurisdiction. Officers were also asked to estimate their “kit” weight, which is the total weight of the gear worn during callouts, including body armor, weapons, and equipment. The physical requirements section contained a list of 20 tasks that was developed from previous literature and in consultation with subject matter experts (1,2,12,13,20). Each officer was asked to rank the tasks 3 separate times: once on frequency, once on importance, and once on difficulty. The third section gathered information on the structure of their physical fitness program (if any), including frequency, time, and place of training. Additionally, officers were asked to rank 9 physical fitness traits in terms of their focus in their training program.
Subjects
A database was compiled of contact information for all police departments in the United States using the Web site usacops.com. Each department was contacted and asked if they had a SWAT team. If the answer was yes, we asked if we may speak to the commander or have his or her e-mail to supply more information about the study. If we were transferred to the commander's voicemail, we left a message including information about the study and the contact information of the investigators. If given an e-mail address, the commander was sent an e-mail detailing the purpose and aims of the survey and asked if they, or members of their team, would like to participate. Although this method may have limited the sample, it helped to ensure that all respondents who filled out the survey were SWAT team personnel. A total 254 surveys were sent out to SWAT officers who had expressed interest in participating in the study. All participants were informed of the risks of participation and selected yes to begin the survey. The selection of “yes” signified informed consent. The University of Memphis' Institutional Review Board approved the procedures used in this study.
Procedures
As individual officer e-mails were compiled, the software generated an e-mail providing more information on the survey and procedures, and a link to the survey unique to that e-mail address. The program was set up to allow 2 weeks before following up with individuals that had not yet completed the survey. When the officer had the survey for 2 weeks, a reminder was sent to the officers' e-mail asking them to complete the survey. We decided on allowing 2 weeks to account for weeks that have a heavy workload and for officers who may not have time to complete it. The survey took 30–45 minutes to complete, and participants were taken to a screen to enter their e-mail address for a chance to win a gift card upon completion. Six $100 and eight $50 gift cards were awarded via a raffle.
Statistical Analyses
Data were exported into SPSS (v.22; IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) for statistical analysis. Data are presented as frequencies in addition to mean (SD). Kendall's Tau-b rank order correlation test for nonparametric data sets was used to determine correlations between callout task ranking lists based on reported frequency, importance, and difficulty.
Results
A total of 154 survey links were opened, 111 were started, and 89 were completed (35% completion). However, 3 participants indicated technical difficulties in ranking tasks, so their results were not included in the analysis, leaving 86 respondents (Table 1). Some of the difficulties may have been because of accessing the survey on small portable devices, but we cannot confirm this possibility. Not all questions were mandatory, so the number of responses is reported for each analysis.
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Table 1.: Demographics.*
Estimated population served (n = 82) was 205,355 ± 195,658 people. Team affiliation was indicated as city (n = 57), county (n = 23), or other (n = 4); additional demographic information is reported in Table 1. Participants who reported their team affiliation as “other” indicated that their teams were multi-jurisdictional. Officers also indicated if their team was part-time (n = 73), full-time (n = 9), or a combination of the 2 (n = 2). Ages ranged from 26–54 years. Body fat measurement methods and percentages were also reported by 35 officers (Table 2). Participants reported estimated average kit weight (n = 83) as 22.5 ± 6.4 kg.
Table 2.: Reported body fat testing methods and estimated percent body fat (n = 35).
Frequency and difficulty of the tasks are strongly related (r = 0.691, p < 0.001). A small-to-moderate correlation exists (r = 0.37, p = 0.023) between difficulty of the task and its importance to mission success (Table 3).
Table 3.: Ranking of callout tasks by importance, frequency, and difficulty.*
The majority of respondents indicated that they participate in some form of physical fitness training (n = 72), and 7.0 ± 2.8 hours per week were dedicated to physical training (n = 79). The training format was somewhat evenly described as structured (n = 29), unstructured (n = 27), or combination of the 2 (n = 24). Respondents who answered “combination” estimated that 43% of their training was structured (n = 21). Four respondents indicated that they did not participate in a physical fitness program. A smaller number of respondents indicated that their training was supervised (n = 18) than unsupervised (n = 32) or that training was a combination of supervised and unsupervised (n = 30) (Figure 2). Training was supervised 21% of the time for those who indicated a combination (n = 24). The majority of respondents indicated that they designed their training program themselves (n = 39). Those who did not design the program themselves indicated (Table 3) that it was designed by the commander (n = 15), certified personal trainer (n = 7), certified strength coach (n = 2), or “other” (n = 16) (Figure 3). One individual who indicated that they participated in a training program did not indicate who designed their program (Table 4).
Table 4.: Focus of training program (n = 80).
Figure 2.: Training supervision responses, chosen from supervised, unsupervised, or a combination.
Figure 3.: Designer of the training program.
Participants were also asked where they most often perform their physical fitness training. Choices for this section included commercial gymnasiums, department owned facilities, or their home. Participants were instructed to select all options that applied and indicate the percentage of training performed at that location. Participants (n = 9) whose percentages did not add up to 100% were excluded from data analysis. Data from the remaining participants who answered the question (n = 39) is represented in Figure 1. Stamina or muscular endurance was ranked as the highest priority in training, whereas balance was ranked last (Table 4; Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 1.: Training format responses, chosen from structured, unstructured, or a combination.
Discussion
We have attempted to describe the most frequent, difficult, and critical tasks encountered by SWAT personnel during callouts, as well as descriptive information, using an online survey distribution software. The survey had a return rate of 35%, which is higher than the return rate of a previous study that used an online survey with a response incentive (24). It is possible that the return rate was higher in the current study because of participant motivation to help expand the body of literature on SWAT training. However, the return rate was lower than a previous survey of SWAT commanders that used a mailed survey (2). This is expected because mailed survey return rates have been shown to be higher than e-mailed surveys (24).
The magnitude of the correlation coefficient for frequency of the task and difficulty suggests that there is a strong relationship between these variables, having about 48% shared variance. It is possible that officers perceive tasks that are encountered more frequently as more important for mission success. However, it is also possible that more important tasks are simply encountered more often. Based on the average rankings for tasks across the 3 categories, one can assess their “overall” importance (Table 2). The task “Lifting something from floor or knee height that weighed greater than 150 pounds” was rated the most important task for SWAT officers. One way this task could manifest itself during a callout is when a member of the SWAT team is injured. This would require another member of the team to carry them to safety. This is a task that would require a great deal of absolute muscular strength to complete. “Clearing an obstacle less than 6 feet” had the second highest average score on the tasks lists. It would require strength and power depending on the height of the obstacle. An obstacle under several feet would be easier to clear by jumping. Jumping requires the rapid application of force, which is power. However, an obstacle closer to 6 feet would require more strength than power, as officers may have to pull themselves over the object. Manually breaching a door was equally as important to clearing an obstacle when averaged across the lists. Breaching a door would require the rapid application of a large magnitude of force, and as such, strength and power are the 2 integral variables to successful performance of this task. “Crawling greater than 100 feet,” “maintaining balance while traversing a wall,” and “climbing something for several stories” were the lowest scoring tasks when averaged across the lists. These tasks require endurance, balance, and strength, respectively.
According to the principle of specificity, strength and conditioning programs must approximate the needs of the participant (5). It is important to remember that tactical officers complete the aforementioned tasks during a callout while wearing a “kit.” Previous research has shown that there is a metabolic cost associated with load carriage, and operating in SWAT gear creates an added demand on an officer's aerobic fitness (23). The kit weight reported by officers was less than that of other studies but more than enough to change physiological responses (14,16,23). It has also been shown that improving performance during a load-bearing task of a short duration, high intensity nature requires improvements in aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and muscle power (17).
Given that the highest average ranked tasks require strength and power, along with extra demands placed on the officer by their kit, enhancing strength and power should be emphasized in physical fitness training programs for SWAT. This is a departure from evidence presented in previous research, which indicated that aerobic capacity, leg power, and flexibility should be the main focuses of exercise prescription for SWAT operators (23). It should be noted that the exercise prescription from this study was based on ideal fitness requirements compared with measured fitness characteristics, as job tasks characteristics identified included, “a blend of aerobic fitness, extremity strength, core strength, flexibility, and muscular power.” It also focused on one suburban SWAT team. Members of that team ranked high in muscular strength and above average in body composition, whereas considerable variation was seen in aerobic fitness, flexibility, and muscular power. Also, few officers in that study indicated regular aerobic training (23). However, our data show that officers ranked stamina/muscular endurance and cardiovascular or respiratory endurance as the top 2 focuses of their training program.
The SWAT officers may also have a limited amount of time to train, especially those who are part-time SWAT. Therefore, time efficiency is important when designing a training program. Although strength and power should be emphasized, other aspects of training should not be neglected. Aerobic capacity has been shown to be important for SWAT personnel, and aerobic high-intensity interval training has been shown to improve V̇o2max more than long slow distance running (10).
The majority of respondents indicated that they design their own training program. A relatively low number of respondents indicated that fitness personnel, such as a personal trainer or certified strength coach, designed their program. The 2 respondents who indicated a certified strength coach designed their program had the same top 4 foci. These officers indicated muscular endurance as the focus of their training program, followed by strength, cardiovascular endurance, and power.
Fitness testing procedures were not assessed by the survey (with the exception of body composition). However, SWAT teams should conduct pretest and posttest on officers to assess the effectiveness of the training program in improving the specific attributes that are most important for a successful callout. Body fat testing was assessed by the survey, and average body fat was similar to previous research, considering that the majority of respondents were part-time SWAT personnel (3,23). Increased body fat percentage has been shown to be negatively correlated with the vertical jump (26). This is not surprising, as body fat contributes nothing to power production because of its noncontractile nature (29). It has also been indicated that a higher body fat percentage is correlated with decreased performance on tasks that require muscular endurance in part-time SWAT officers (4). Therefore, training and nutrition should also emphasize decreasing or retaining a low level of body fat. Body composition was tested by more strength coaches at the professional level than any other variable in football, basketball, and baseball (6,8,27). The majority of National Hockey League coaches indicated that they test muscular strength more than any other variable, with body composition second (7). Programs created for SWAT teams should be tailored to the tasks most commonly encountered by SWAT teams. Therefore, a needs analysis similar to the one conducted by Pryor et al. (23) should be conducted by personnel at each SWAT team to determine a training program tailored to the needs of that specific department. Once the important attributes are assessed, testing procedures can be put in place to assess the efficacy of the training program.
Practical Applications
The SWAT officers may be required to perform a myriad of tasks during completion of their job duties. These tasks may be performed during a high-risk situation. Knowing which tasks are more frequent, difficult, and important can help practitioners or officers design programs that target specific qualities that should be trained for officers to safely complete a call out. Averaging the tasks across these 3 domains creates a way to identify which traits should be prioritized based on a task analysis. Officers should implement testing into the programs to ensure that improvements are being made in selected variables. However, a well-rounded program for a SWAT officer should not neglect any aspect of training but prioritize those that has a higher average ranking in the task list. Most SWAT officers design their own program or have command design it. If possible, fitness professionals should be consulted on program design to ensure maximum efficiency. Based on the average rankings for the tasks lists, programs should emphasize muscular strength and power. A combination of resistance training and interval training should be programmed for SWAT officers to improve all aspects of fitness while simultaneously emphasizing the aspects that have been shown to have a higher overall importance. Future research should be conducted to determine a testing battery to assess the efficacy of training programs designed to help SWAT personnel improve performance of occupational tasks.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Brent Alvar and the local SWAT officers, all of whom helped with the preliminary survey and revisions. The results of this study do not constitute endorsement of the product by the authors, the U.S. Army, or the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
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