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The Southwest Tactical Team was formed in 2003. It is a multi-jurisdictional team comprised of officers from the Dickinson Police Department and other surrounding agencies.

The team's mission is to provide a resource for regional agencies to successfully resolve critical incidents, with the intent of preserving life and protecting citizenry. The team primarily resolves incidents; such as, serving high-risk search and arrest warrants, and confronting armed suspects. Southwest TAC Team members train together on a monthly basis. They also attend a POST-certified SWAT Basic Academy and other relevant training.

In 2010, the team became a regionally-certified tactical team. The North Dakota Peace Officer Association's Board of 'Special Operations Committee' (SOC) has developed a list of standards a team must meet in order to become regionally-certified. Some of these standards include the ability to deploy chemical munitions, have a trained sniper, have a trained crisis negotiation team (CNT), and other specialized equipment and tactics. Now that they are certified, the team can now qualify for reimbursement if they respond to an incident outside of their jurisdiction.

Traditionally, the Southwest Tactical Team resolves a high-risk incident once every two months.

The members of the Southwest Tactical Team are highly motivated individuals who possess excellent team building attributes as well as above average physical fitness skills. The team consists of highly trained personnel with specific skills in the areas of marksmanship, tactical response and containment, deployment of chemical munitions and hostage negotiations. The SWTT is under direct supervision of the Team Commander, Lt. Bill Leach, and Assistant Team Commanders, SGT Dan Brown, SGT Mike Hanel, and OFC Jeremy Moser.

Team mobility is one of the requirements set forth by the NDPOA-SOG Committee. A surplus US Air Force crew transport vehicle was recently acquired and will be used to transport members and equipment to the scene of an incident.

Questions or Comments?
Comments and questions regarding the Southwest Tactical Team can be directed to LT Bill Leach Clicking Here to email.