Sometimes before a construction project can begin, there is an old vacant house that needs to be demolished. A local fire department will come in, secure the area, light up some flammables and practice away! Such was almost the case the other day when Smet’s, Jamie Blom had to decide what to do with an old vacant house. Instead of just turning the house over to the local fire department, Jamie heard about a need the Brown County SWAT team had for training.
So before demolition began, Blom arranged for the SWAT team to brush up on their training. “ It is just as important for a county’s SWAT team to practice as it is for a fire department!” Blom said, “ They are always looking for training opportunities and I’m glad we were able to offer a structure for the morning’s activities.”
SWAT teams aka (special weapons and tactics) are specially trained to respond to heavily armed situations, barricade situations and hostage situations. Squads are typically equipped with specialized weapons and gear. De Pere Officer Jedd Bradley, who coordinated the event on behalf of Brown County’s SWAT team said, “We applaud Smet for participating because we don’t get many opportunities to work live where we can actually break windows and smash in doors. We can talk about it, but there is nothing better in training than actually doing it. Any opportunity we can get to do a dress rehearsal is a benefit”, he said.
The Brown County SWAT team is a multi-jurisdictional team with 23 members that operates 24/7. The members are full-time officers with area law enforcement groups who train several times a month and are on call because as Bradley says, “You never know when you might be needed!”
While it is unfortunate to need SWAT teams in our communities, it is equally important that our local law enforcement groups can respond to today’s realities. Smet Construction Services is proud to be able to assist in this training exercise and to do our part in supporting our local law enforcement groups.
For more information:
Greg Polacheck
Director of Market Development
[email protected]
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