Chandler Police Department

Chandler is a suburb of Phoenix Arizona, the town of Chandler has about 300,000 residents on the south east side of Phoenix. The Chandler Police Department consists of approximately 330 officers, including the SWAT division, which comprises around 60 officers consisting of officers, sergeants, members from the fire department, and medics.

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Chandler Police Department SWAT Team

The Chandler SWAT team is dedicated to resolving incidents efficiently, prioritizing stabilization in their policing approach. SWAT responsibilities extend beyond the routine duties of patrol officers. The primary objective of SWAT is to ensure optimal outcomes in preserving life and property.

The majority of the SWAT team's operations involve executing search warrants in situations that present a heightened level of danger necessitating the specialized support of the SWAT team. The SWAT team's duties also involve providing support during barricade resolutions, with these tasks collectively accounting for 90% of the Chandler SWAT team's activities.

Except for the SWAT training coordinator and their sergeant, the remainder of Chandler's SWAT team members are assigned to collateral duties and are in any other position within the police department, anything from patrol officers to detectives. That is the main reason the SWAT team is so large due to having to be able to call them away from other assignments for the SWAT mission. In 2023 the Chandler SWAT team did 150 mission operations averaging 3 a week.

Roles of SWAT Team

Mike McCartney is the SWAT Training Coordinator for the Chandler PD SWAT team he is the only full-time SWAT member along with his sergeant, and most of his responsibilities include planning and conducting training, along with managing the equipment, and keeping a record of funding.

The normal training cycle includes two full days a month for ongoing skill development; team building, tactics technique, and other essential training elements. Annually, the trainers organize a week-long off-site training session for the team, allowing for an intensive 50 to 60 hours of training.

Qualifications are conducted quarterly, beyond the mandatory training, to ensure that team members meet standards in areas such as firearms proficiency and equipment readiness, including gas mask fittings.

In addition to the annual, quarterly, and monthly training, specialty units within the team, such as the Lethal Specialists known as Grenadiers, concentrate on training for chemical and impact munitions, as well as less-lethal devices. Another specialized role involves breaching, focusing on various methods of entry including manual, thermal, and explosive techniques. Additionally, there is a sniper element, emphasizing marksmanship skills. Each unit undergoes separate specialized training tailored to their respective roles. There is also a negotiation section within the SWAT team which is managed by a sergeant and has annual specialty training, focused on crisis negotiation.

The Chandler SWAT team has a technology section that has a sergeant and another 8 officers, who are not part of the tactical element, they are in charge of all equipment that is battery-run. The technology team manages all the SWAT robots, under-door cameras, and drones. They are responsible for keeping all auxiliary equipment functioning.

D4H and Chandler SWAT

Chandler Police Department SWAT Team became D4H users in 2023, they use Personnel & Training, Equipment Management and, Incident Reporting. Prior to becoming D4H users they were trying to capture all of their information using Word documents and spreadsheets. This system made tracking equipment difficult, and impossible to reassign equipment based on not being able to track ownership. Their training hours were tracked across multiple spreadsheets, and their incidents were reported across spreadsheets and paper.

"We were using what was available to us to keep the best record keeping that we could, creating a boatload of paper files"
— Mike McCartney, SWAT Training Coordinator at the Chandler Police Department SWAT Team

After the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security established the Urban Area Security Initiative. Chandler SWAT, alongside six other teams in Arizona, received significant funding for training and equipment. The Chandler SWAT team operates from its dedicated headquarters, where all vehicles and equipment are stored.

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In D4H Equipment Management, Chandler SWAT utilizes various categories, meticulously tracking items such as chemical launchers and ballistic armor, with multiple subdivisions dedicated to specific equipment types, with everything filtered by kind and type. The team run monthly equipment inspections for their munition and quarterly inspections for their vehicles, creating tasks and assigning jobs to different team members.

"Creating tasks and assigning them to different people has been really handy because time flies"
— Mike McCartney, SWAT Training Coordinator at the Chandler Police Department SWAT Team

The Chandler SWAT team has events throughout the year that they plan for, the team calls their incidents 'operations'. They employ D4H Personnel & Training to manage these operations, using it to invite attendees and allow members to indicate their availability. The team plans for their training one year in advance and they then use D4H exercises to track training. To maintain their accreditation standards, the team utilizes D4H to keep records of signed copies of rosters. All specialty training is managed using D4H events.

"We were looking for system for a longtime to help us manage everything, we were very glad to discover D4H"
— Mike McCartney, SWAT Training Coordinator at the Chandler Police Department SWAT Team

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