Course Descriptions

This course meets the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) guidelines (September 2019 Revision) for initial training (80 hours) of law enforcement personnel assigned to an agency's Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) team. Training includes all facets of basic SWAT training to included PowerPoint presentations of all basic SWAT concepts, critical incident debriefs, practical application of relevant skills, instructor led exercises, reality-based scenarios, tactical firearms qualification, written exam, and course debrief.

This is a variable course (16 or 24-hours) based on agency needs. The course meets California's POST SWAT Guidelines for SWAT personnel to receive updated training where often times, TTPS (tactics, techniques, and procedures) have evolved since initial training. The course is specifically designed for the "part time" tactical team where SWAT is a collateral assignment. The course is a refresher / update of the basic concepts initially taught during the Basic SWAT 80-hour course.

This 16-hour course will address the various duties and responsibilities associated with agency SWAT / Tactical Commanders and Team Leaders. Topics include current POST SWAT Operational Guidelines - PC 13514.1(c), Liability / Legal Issues, Leadership, Team Management, Critical Incident Debriefs, and Classroom Exercises.

This is a 32-hour course designed to teach officers how to safely and tactically respond to rapidly evolving hostage rescue scenarios. The students shall receive several levels of instruction. The course is designed to show an evolution of "Hostage Rescue Principals." The students will receive classroom instruction which will include several real-world hostage rescue incident debriefs. The classroom instruction is designed to generate open dialogue between students and instructors. The students will also be able to ask questions of the instructors regarding TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) used by the instructors during actual hostage rescue incidents. The students will be placed in scenario-based exercises (dry) evolving to reality-based scenarios (force-on-force). Hostage rescue problems to be encountered will be open-air, vehicle, and stronghold variations.

This 24-hour course will expose teams to the tactical capabilities of several different types of armored vehicles. ITC instructors will tailor the tactics to fit each agency's choice of armored vehicle. The course will focus on deployment methods of the armored vehicle, used to maximize safety for the team and civilians alike. Tactical situations requiring the use of an armored vehicle will be covered in depth.

This includes barricaded suspects, high-risk warrant service, hostage rescues, civilian evacuations, and rescue operations. The students will also be exposed to shooting platforms, personal equipment issues, and breaching options.

Law enforcement agencies have indicated a need to improve their experience in training and equipment use in complicated urban / low-light / night operations for sniper deployments. This 24-hour course will provide advanced skills for those officers assigned as snipers on their SWAT team. Prerequisites: CA POST Approved Basic SWAT Course or equivalent and initial sniper training course or equivalent (this is not an entry level sniper course).

This a 16-hour tactical casualty care course designed for tactical teams, both medics and non-medics. Tactical teams require specific training in bringing SWAT team members tactical casualty care skills sets to a higher level while also actively integrating the new tactical medics assigned to their teams. The TACTICAL MEDICAL INTEGRATION COURSE is an intermediate level course which will achieve this goal by updating current non-medic SWAT personnel tactical casualty care skill sets, expanding the new tactical medic's ability to create detailed tactical medical planning options for the SWAT team mission (high-risk warrant service, barricaded suspects, hostage rescue), fully integrating the SWAT team's ability to conduct rapid tactical rescues of both officers and citizens, and a more effective coordinated response to multi-casualty incidents.

This 16-hour course will provide students with the information and hands-on experience needed to effectively use a handgun equipped with a pistol mounted optic (PMO). This course will train personnel in the nomenclature, function, and use of PMOs. Modern pistol optics provide law enforcement with several distinct advantages benefitting law enforcement officers compared to traditional iron sights. Pistol mounted optics allow for a continual threat focus which facilitates better threat identification and management. The precise dot reticle facilitates better shooting accuracy, eliminates many issues involving sight alignment, and can provide a significant improvement in low light accuracy and speed.

This course will cover in detail the methods used to resolve an armed / barricaded suspect incident. Team members will be exposed to Team movement methods, scouting missions, personnel management, breaching options, the use of canine, and deployment of chemical agents.

This course provides in depth coverage of all facets of high-risk warrant service. Topics include mission planning, service options, personnel management, breaching options, diversionary devices, controlling suspects and civilians, and Team movement. Contingency planning where the high-risk warrant service becomes a barricaded suspect or hostage rescue incident.

This course is designed to assist those agencies looking to build a tactical team or revamp one already in place. This course can assist single agency teams or multi-jurisdictional teams. The course will cover the following:

• Justification for a SWAT team
• Deployment of a SWAT team
• Personnel selection
• Weapons and equipment
• Training
• Leadership
• Command and Control
• Legalities

This course is designed to expose the modern police dog team to training and communication concepts, enabling them to integrate with members of a SWAT/Tactical team successfully.

This course will expose the student to proper communication skills needed between the K-9 handler, SWAT team members and command staff, pre-deployment planning strategies involving tactical arrest teams, containment teams, entry team assignments, barricaded suspect incidents, hostage rescue operations, and high-risk area search missions.