The Robbinsdale Police Department currently has four officers assigned to the West Metro SWAT Team. The SWAT Team is made up of officers from the Robbinsdale, Golden Valley, Crystal and New Hope Police Departments.

The SWAT Team responds to high risk situations such as:

The team will also respond to special events such as disasters or civil disturbances as needed.

There are currently twenty seven police officers assigned to the West Metro SWAT Team. Assigned officers are full-time members of their respective police departments and participate with the Team as an additional duty. Team members are on-call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Officers are selected for the team based on exceptional work performance and competency. 

The West Metro SWAT Team is lead by the Team Commander and two Assistant Commanders. Team member assignments include:

Ø     Entry Team

Ø     Chemical Munitions/Perimeter Officers

Ø     Snipers

Ø     Breaching Officers

Ø     Reconnaissance

Ø     Negotiator

Each team member has a specific assignment, however many are cross-trained to perform various duties. There is also a paramedic assigned to the team.

Upon assignment to the team, officers complete a forty hour basic SWAT Operators Course.  Additionally the Team trains monthly at various locations throughout the four participating cities. Areas of training include building entries/searches, hostage rescue, area searches, call-out simulations, reconnaissance, distraction techniques, less lethal munitions and firearms qualification. On many occasions the team will take the opportunity to train at houses scheduled for demolition through the Community Development Program. These opportunities provide realistic, real-time training for team members. The team also trains at Camp Ripley for four days each year.