Nearly 30 times a year, 30 men suit up donning vests, gas masks, radio, communications systems and an assigned weapon to carry out drug search warrants or assist in any barricaded or hostage situation.
Lt. Scott Mingus of the Auburn Police Division is the commander of the Auburn SWAT Team, which is a part of the Lee County SWAT Team, a combination of four departments.
Constructed in 2000, the team is one of few countywide SWAT teams remaining in the state. Mingus requires the members be of the utmost physical and mental health.
To find suitable candidates, the potential members are scored by Mingus and a panel on certain categories, including an obstacle course and “a couple of shooting drills.”
“What we do is we try to see what their effort is and see how they interact with other guys, because it takes a special person to do this job,” Mingus said.
The first of two training sessions a month was conducted in a house set for demolition. According to Opelika Police Sgt. Rob Cook, it is typical for people to donate houses set for demolition for SWAT team training.
“This type of training allows us to put all of the tactics we work on together into one event,” Cook said. “We try to integrate as many parts of the team as possibl: use of snipers, medics and so on.”
Although the situations are highly stressful, combining the four teams has given the SWAT team more personnel to choose from when it receives the call to go out.
Mingus said combining the teams has eased the stress on each department compared to the early 1990s, when the SWAT team had limited personnel to choose from.
However, stress still remains. Whether it be entering a home to be welcomed by gunfire or waiting 12 hours during a standoff, the situations tend to always have some sort of tension.
Mingus recalled one deployment that dealt with a guy who had a number of mental issues and who was deemed a threat to himself and others.
As patrol responded, they spoke with their supervisors, then deeming it a SWAT-worthy situation.
In this instance, it turned out to be a 12-hour standoff, something Mingus said is physically and mentally exhausting.
“Those kinds of nights take a little bit out of you because you hurry up and you wait, but it turned out the best possible way,” Mingus said. “The luxury of having the Lee County SWAT Team makes it a lot easier.”
Although the team prepares for numerous situations, the Lee County SWAT Team now teaches a class called Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Program, a requirement for admission into the academy.
ALERRT deals with how to handle a mass shooting if one was to occur. Initiated because of the Columbine shootings, ALERRT teaches patrol officers it is their responsibility to act immediately once on the scene, a tactic utilized in the San Bernardino shooting this past December.
“It gets everyone together strategically if a mass shooting was to occur,” said Capt. Chris Wallace of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. “Ever since Columbine, response is different. Instead of waiting for SWAT, the first officers there go in and try to get the situation in control.”
When receiving the call to respond to a situation, Mingus said fear is always there, but it’s up to the team member to cope with it, something everyone does a different way.
The officers put their lives on the line every day and understand they have to go out and do their job, which won’t get done unless they do it despite whatever fear they are dealing with, Mingus said.
“You just learn how to deal with it,” Mingus said. “That’s why you train. That’s why we put in the extra effort not to quit. And like I said, this team we have is one of the best in the state.”
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