Newark Police Department’s SWAT Team challenged dozens of Bay Area first responders last weekend and emerged victorious, said Commander Mike Carroll, Newark Police spokesperson
The Special Weapons and Tactics team finished in the top 10 at the 2013 Urban Shield challenge, which places law enforcement officials in dangerous situations where they must work together as an efficient, effective team.
Police Chief James Leal congratulated the team on Wednesday for their performance in this year’s competition.
“Having personally witnessed our team handling these difficult scenarios and some of the grueling physical challenges, I couldn’t be more proud and confident that our team is prepared to handle any incident that we might encounter in Newark,” Chief Leal said. “This is a true testament to the quality of the people we have here in Newark,” Leal said.
Thirty-four teams competed for 48 hours in environments that simulated major emergency situations. The Newark SWAT Team handled 36 “critical incidents” during that time period. One of them was a bioterrorism attack scenario, according to Carroll.
“A huge thank you goes out to the sergeants, officers, dispatchers, police reserves, RAVEN volunteers, special assistants, explorers, and cadets who all made this event a success!” Carroll said.
Newark SWAT Team includes Officer Randy Ramos, Sgt. David Lee, Detective Tony Heckman, Officer Jeff Revay, Sgt. Jeff Mapes, Detective Jolie Gentry, Sgt. Chomnan Loth, and Detective Sam Ackerman.
You can see them in that order from left to right in the photo attached to this post.
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