S.O. S.W.A.T. team trains in public buildings to react to possible armed intruders

Team members on the second-floor gallery of the Courthouse survey the lobby below.	A small courtroom on the first floor is cleared by officers.
Officers in a corridor between offices in the Courthouse.	A S.W.A.T. team member holds a shield to lead a practice advance.at the Courthouse.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said his department continues training for possibilities that everyone involved hopes will never have to be dealt with – an armed intruder in a public area, a business, school or government building.

“It’s a question of being prepared in advance for what could happen, while hoping it doesn’t happen,’’ the sheriff said. “In today’s environment, it’s the preparation that’s crucial.’’

Recently, the Sheriff’s Office Strategic Weapons and Training team, or S.W.A T. team, has been undergoing response training to armed intruder situations, most recently at the Parish Courthouse in Chalmette. They have also trained at the Civic Center, at an abandoned school site and will soon use the parish government building for similar training.

Under the supervision of S.W.A.T. commander Lt. Robert Norton, they have worked on tactics for clearing buildings by room searches.

“It’s good to look at floor plans of buildings,’’ Norton said. ‘but you have to physically go through a building and do it with repetition to build muscle memory’’ so officers are sure in their reactions.

At the Courthouse, it was unusual to see officers carrying weapons on the building’s iconic stairwells on both sides of the lobby. The S.W.A.T. trained throughout the building, including the main Courtroom upstairs, smaller courtrooms, the lobby, judges’ chambers and the Clerk’s Office.

Afterwards, Norton said he felt confident S.W.A.T. team members would work well together if there was an intruder situation.