Members of the Union County Emergency Response Team recently competed in the Connecticut SWAT Challenge and placed 7th out of 38 teams.
The team produced three top-ten finishes in events, including 1st place in the Hostage Rescue challenge, 6th place in the Vehicle Assault challenge and 5th place in the Handgun challenge.
The following personnel represented UCERT at the 2009 CT SWAT Challenge:
Lt Dennis Burke |
Team Capt/Participant |
Det Jordan Jeffer |
Participant |
Sgt John Cook |
Team Co-Captain |
Det Mark Stallone |
Participant |
Cpl Sean Dougherty |
Team Coach |
Det Brendan Sullivan |
Participant |
Sgt Kevin Skiper |
Participant |
Off Dan Sims |
Participant |
Sgt John DiPasquale |
Participant |
Off Doug Stoffer |
Participant |
Det Dan Fay |
Participant |
S/O James Guerrant |
Participant |
Now in its fifth year, the CT SWAT Challenge has quickly grown to become the third largest event of its kind in the United States, behind only the Texas and Florida SWAT Round Ups. Hosted by the West Hartford Police Department, the CT SWAT Challenge prides itself on being the toughest of all National SWAT competitions, placing a premium on precision shooting under stress, tactical decision-making and overall physical fitness of all participants.
The 2009 Challenge featured 38 teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire as well as Federal and Military Teams. There were over 360 participants in the team portion of the SWAT Challenge and 200 additional participants in the individual open pistol and rifle events.
Unlike similar events held throughout the US, success in the CT SWAT Challenge demands proficiency in a multitude of Police tactical disciplines, including handgun and rifle shooting, sniper fire, manual and explosive breaching and deployment of specialized tactical devices.
The competition featured seven timed events; each team was awarded a ranking in each event from one thru thirty-eight based on their respective time. The lowest aggregate score after all events was the winner. This competition modeled their events on real life experiences that various teams from the New England area encountered in years past to maximize on the realism that participants encountered. The competition also featured what it billed as the toughest physical conditioning event in any law enforcement competition in the US.
This was the second year that UCERT competed in the event. |
