Graduation held for eight new SWAT team members as new commander Lt. Bobby Norton is blending new members into the old group with 60-hour training school he developed

Graduation ceremonies were held Feb. 1 for eight new SWAT team members as new commander Lt. Bobby Norton is blending new members into the old group with a 60-hour training school he developed.

Sheriff James Pohlmann took part in the ceremony.

The goal of training the eight in-house in Norton’s school is continuity across the SWAT team, rather than sending them to various other training programs.

Shown at left is Lt. Robert Norton and next to him, from left are the new SWAT team graduates: Sgt. Ryan Melerine, Dep. Joe Bowen, Agent Carlo Cacioppo, Dep. Dustin Gould, Dep. Skyler Rauch, Dep. Matthew Schmidlen, Agent Gary Noriea and Dep. Chelsie Soulagnet.

Norton has returned to the Sheriff’s Office where he started in 1986 and was employed until 1990 and he is now commander of the Special Weapons And Tactics team, or SWAT.
In the intervening time after he left, Norton spent 25 years with New Orleans Police, retiring last year after heading their SWAT team and later Special Operations. He was on the NOPD SWAT team from 1990-2000, commanded SWAT in the city for two years until 2012, then was commander of NOPD Special Operations for three years before retiring in 2015.
Norton has put together a 60-hour school of SWAT training which covers:
– establishment of a perimeter
– negotiation technique
– entry into a building or other space
– less than lethal options available
– an active shooter situation
– riot control
– weapons nomenclature