QRT/SWAT

Quick Response Team
qrt 
QRT
"Quick Response Team"

QRT - Baltimore's "Quick Response Team" began forming in 1976; shortly before the Lombard and Carey St. sniper incident that members of Tactical Units realized a need for better training, and better equipment, to handle riots, barricade and hostage type situations. Following in the footsteps on other agencies they were going to name their team SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) But the department (Frank Battaglia, to be more precise didn’t think any sort of "S.W.A.T." function was necessary and tried to stop the program at every opportunity.) They found the word “SWAT” to be too harsh (Political Correctness circa 1975/76) QRT was the name eventually chosen by then Col. Robinson after suggestions from TAC personnel were solicited on top of the political correctness, Robinson also wanted to distinguish BPD from LAPD, NYPD, etc.; thus, he went with QRT over SWAT The follow pictures taken from the Baltimore Sun paper will show some of our earliest members of QRT, our founding fathers you might say, of today's Baltimore SWAT team (BTW in 2006 after 20 years the department finally gives in, and joins 1976 - just kidding, the men and women that have worked QRT/SWAT over the years have been some of the elite, in an already elite department of police that took pride in their job, and in protecting the citizens they swore to protect) 

For a More Detailed History Click Here

police epson 086 1010 QRT 1978 photo by joseph A DiPaola 72

Photo was taken by Sun Photographer Joseph A. Dialola


The QRT officer in the back might be Lenny Rummo? The first officer ringing the doorbell is John McGuire, behind John is Frank Icanvino (sp?). Officer McGuire left the BPD soon after this photo was taken to work for the State Department. Photo was taken at 1010 Broadway as QRT was looking for a shooting suspect back in July-03-1978
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Picture Taken by Sunpaper Photographer Walter McCardell
Left to Right Officer Dennis Dean, Officer Ronnie Hubbard, and Officer Al Erhardt

October 29, 1976, As members of Quick Response Team (QRT), suit up on Greenspring Ave. the call came out as a man with a gun in the 5800 block of Western Run Dr. - The Newspaper article said - Police don flak jackets for a foray against what turned out to be a juvenile prankster. So if you ever wonder why police approach every scene with caution, now you know, they don't know the dangerous calls, from the prank calls, the good guys from the bad guys, and just like you, they want to go home at the end of their shift.

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Quick Response Team  

Seen standing in this pic with a.30 cal. carbine rifle covering the front of the location (1500 blk Federal St) in 1978, is Jerry DeManss. This was the location where Officer Mike Casizzi was shot in the stomach. I worked Mike Casizzi years later, he was good police. 


Original QRT Squad0001 72
The First QRT Squad - A-3. 

From left to right, STANDING:  EVU Officer? and EVU Sgt. Dave Bryant, A-3 Squad Officers Roger Rose, Jim Sebore (sp.), Gary Green, Mike Speedling, Kelly Allen, Lee Baker, Norm Bleakly, Andy Gersey;  KNEELING:  Sgt. Joe Key, Steve Grennell, George Smith, Mike Hurm, Lenny Rummo, Ed Schillo, Bob Letmate.  This photo was taken at Gunpowder Range in Feb. 1976 when the squad was trained by the FBI in SWAT ops.  Roger Rose broke his arm during the training and left the squad.  The blue coveralls were bought from a company that made uniforms for bread truck drivers.  A-3 was the only squad operational during Lombard and Carey and for two-three months afterward.  The G.O. authorizing QRT wasn’t signed until I left QRT on Oct. 77

Original QRT Squad0001 72Sgt. Ed Schillo

QRT Sharp Shooter 
QRT Counter Sniper

To become a QRT/SWAT Counter Snipers, the marksman has to practice all the time, and their qualifying test has them shooting the .308, at targets less than half the size of a human skull, from a distance of as much as 75 yards on a timed course, and the marksman has to shoot a 100% in order to make Marksman and become a "Counter Sniper".  

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Baltimore SWAT Team

QRT (Quick Response Team) is renamed SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) after 32 years the department finally changes the name of this highly trained, elite team. (Initially in 1974 while forming the team the department was against using the name SWAT because they felt the name was too harsh for the department image. Political correctness circa 1974.)

qrt lyndale ave

SWAT Lyndale Ave. 2006

Basic Training Sniper School 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Basic Training Sniper School

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"No matter how tired or sweaty I felt, when a situation was resolved and we (the team ) were leaving the location with the usual media crush with lights and cameras on, I would not, at that moment, trade places with anyone in the world" A quote from Jerry DeManss and all the QRT'ers

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1303 W. Lombard St taken on 16 APR.76. Officer Edwin Schillo is looking out from the window. He was assigned to the Tactical Section QRT.  This was the Sniper Incident at Lombard and Carey Streets. Officer Jimmy Halcomb was murdered and four other Officers were shot. Then Officer Edwin Schillo  can be seen standing where the sniper was firing from the window. There were several rifles on the bed with a large mound of ammunition next to them. The white pock marks on the face of the row house are bullet strikes, and there were many bullet holes in the wall and ceiling of the bedroom. The official count was 540 rounds fired. The actual number of rounds fired was much more. This was one of the most tragic incidents in the history of the BPD.

left to right Lt Schillo Lt Gutberlet Sgt. Munyan

Left to right is Lt. Schillo, Lt. Gutberlet, & Sgt. Munyan

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Baltimore Police QRT (Quick Response Team)

Pimlico infield preakness May 1995 Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

Bunker training 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Bunker training
Chuck Thompson at Training Site 72Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Chuck Thompson at Training Site
2003 QRT training at Gunpowderjpg
QRT Law Day 1996Courtesy Lt. Don Healy
SWD barricade Courtesy Lt. Don Healy
Tac QRT A platoon 1997Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

FBI QRT Training A 3 Squad0001 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
FBI QRT Training A3 Squad 1

5 lineupQuick Response Team

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Tactical operation 315 E. 22nd. St. February 12, 2007
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House Entry 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
House Entry

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SWAT
Special Weapons And Tactics

Kuhn Chase St 1987 Bunker Saves Life 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Chase St 1987 Bunker Saves Life


Kuhn Chase St May 1987 2 rds 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Chase St May 1987

2300 block Allendale Road 11 8 2007 SUN PHOTO

Police at the front door of a house in the 2300 block of Allendale Road in West Baltimore where officers confronted an armed man who had fired at least one shot, according to officials. (Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / November 8, 2007)

Gwynns Falls Parkway Allendale Rd 11 8 2007SUN PHOTO

A police vehicle sits at the corner of Gwynns Falls Parkway and Allendale Road near a West Baltimore house where police confronted an armed man who had fired at least one shot, according to officials. (Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / November 8, 2007)

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Photo courtesy Herb Moseley

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tactical training3
tactical training4

Photo courtesy Herb Moseley

Kuhn Rappell Training Tie Off Cover with Long Gun 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Rappell Training Tie Off Cover with Long Gun

Agt DeManss Agt SchilloAgt DeManss & Agt Schillo
Photo Certification
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Photo Certification

Schmidt taylor Gilbart Thomas Williams Ellis Wocjik Rose 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Schmidt, Taylor, Gilbart, Thomas, Williams, Ellis, Wocjik, Rose

Sniper Training 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Sniper Training

Steve Woody at Camden Yards 72
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Steve Woody at Camden Yards

Quick Response Team

Paul Renaud, Brad Thomas, Mark Janicki, Guy Thacker, and Chris Timms

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SWAT ("Special Weapons And Tactics") is a commonly-used proper name for law enforcement units, which use military-style light weapons and specialized tactics in high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular, uniformed police. "SWAT" is commonly-used internationally, as a colloquial, generic term for these units.

Their duties include: confronting heavily-armed criminals; performing hostage rescue and counter-terrorism operations; high-risk arrests and; entering armored or barricaded buildings. Such units are often equipped with specialized firearms including sub-machine gunsassault rifles, breaching shotguns, riot control agents, stun grenades, and sniper rifles. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers, inside enclosed structures.

History

 Some sources state that the first use of "SWAT" as an acronym for "Special Weapons and Tactics" was the Special Weapons and Tactics Squad established by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964. A more prominent early SWAT team was established in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967, by Inspector Daryl Gates. After that, many United States law enforcement organizations, especially the police departments of major cities, as well as federal and state agencies, established their own elite units under various names. Gates explained in his autobiography Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported the underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support. Gates originally named the platoon "Special Weapons Assault Team"; however, his name was not generally favored and was rejected by his manager, deputy police chief Ed Davis, as sounding too much like a military organization. Wanting to keep the acronym "SWAT", Gates changed its expanded form to "Special Weapons And Tactics".

While the public image of SWAT first became known through the LAPD, perhaps because of its proximity to the mass media and the size and professionalism of the Department itself, the first SWAT-type operations were conducted north of Los Angeles in the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley. At the time, César Chavez' United Farm Workers union was staging numerous protests in Delano, both at cold storage facilities and outside non-supportive farm workers' homes on city streets. The Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc units using special weapons and tactics. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about the program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action and afterward took what he had learned back to Los Angeles where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit. John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during civil unrest. The LAPD SWAT units were organized as "D Platoon" in the Metro division.

Members of the San Bernardino Police Department SWAT team on September 23, 1998.
Members of the U.S. Air Force 60th Security Forces Squadron SWAT team, Travis Air Force Base, California, practice hostage rescue on July 18, 1995.

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panthers. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily-armed left-wing guerrillas, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Police units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,771 rounds fired by the SLA, no uninvolved citizens or police officers sustained injury from gunfire. However, all the gunmen inside were killed.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds or perished in the ensuing blaze.

U.S. Air Force 37th Training Wing's Emergency Services Team use a team lift technique to enter a target building during training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas on April 24, 2007.

By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons was a sniper rifle (a .243-caliber bolt-action, based on the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. Standard gear included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily-armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and automatic weapons of various types.

A report issued by the Los Angeles Police Department, following a shootout with the Symbionese Liberation A rmy in 1974, offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the Watts Riots, which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order; political assassinations; and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." To deal with these under conditions of urban violence, the LAPD formed SWAT, notes the report.The report states on page 109, "The purpose of SWAT is to provide protection, support, security, firepower, and rescue to police operations in high personal risk situations where specialized tactics are necessary to minimize casualties."

The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999, was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As noted in an article in the Christian Science Monitor, "Instead of being taught to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, street officers are receiving the training and weaponry to take immediate action during incidents that clearly involve suspects' use of deadly force." The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea is to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called active-shooter situations. In these situations, it was no longer acceptable to simply set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT. As an example, in the policy and procedure manual of the Minneapolis Police Department, it is stated, "MPD personnel shall remain cognizant of the fact that in many active shooter incidents, innocent lives are lost within the first few minutes of the incident. In some situations, this dictates the need to rapidly assess the situation and act quickly in order to save lives."

On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with a gunman in Winnetka, California led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence.

SWAT duties

SWAT duties may include:

Hostage rescue

Riot control

Perimeter security against snipers for visiting dignitaries

Providing superior assault firepower in certain situations e.g. barricaded suspects

Rescuing officers or citizens endangered by gunfire

Counter-terrorist operations

Resolving high-risk situations with a minimum loss of life, injury, or property damage

Resolving situations involving barricaded subjects

Stabilizing situations involving high-risk suicidal subjects

Providing assistance on arrest warrants and search warrants

Providing additional security at special events

Special Training

Organization

SWAT officers respond to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments, the officers are normally deployed to regular duties but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

Although due to Officers having to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol. To decrease response times to serious situations that need the direct attention of SWAT Officers, it is now a widely used method to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers. Such departments that need to use this are Sheriffs due to the size of the counties and places like Los Angeles traffic may be high so LAPD use cruisers to respond with their Officers so they do not have to return to the police building. Although for heavier duty equipment they may need depending on the situation that arises.

By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times, for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants.

The New York Police Department's Emergency Service Unit is one of the few civilian police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services, including search and rescue functions, and vehicle extraction, normally handled by fire departments or other agencies.

The need to summon widely-dispersed personnel, then equip and brief them, makes for a long lag between the initial emergency and actual SWAT deployment on the ground. The problems of delayed police response at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting has led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

Training

SW AT officers are selected from volunteers within their law enforcement organization. Depending on their department's policy, officers generally must serve a minimum tenure within the department before being able to apply for a specialist section such as SWAT. This tenure requirement is based on the fact that SWAT officers are still law enforcement officers and must have a thorough knowledge of department policies and procedures.

SWAT applicants undergo rigorous selection and training. Applicants must pass stringent physical agility, written, oral, and psychological testing to ensure they are not only fit enough but also psychologically suited for tactical operations.

Emphasis is placed on physical fitness so an officer will be able to withstand the rigors of tactical operations. After an officer has been selected, the potential member must undertake and pass numerous specialist courses that will make him a fully qualified SWAT operator. Officers are trained in marksmanship for the development of accurate shooting skills. Other training that could be given to potential members includes training in explosives, sniper-training, defensive tactics, first-aid, negotiation, handling K9 units, rappelling and roping techniques and the use of specialized weapons and equipment. They may also be trained specifically in the handling and use of special ammunition such as bean bags, flash-bang grenades, tasers, and the use of crowd control methods, and special non-lethal munitions. Of primary importance is close-quarters defensive tactics training, as this will be the primary mission upon becoming a full-time SWAT officer.

SWAT equipment

SWAT teams use equipment designed for a variety of specialist situations including close quarters combat (CQC) in an urban environment. The particular pieces of equipment vary from unit to unit, but there are some consistent trends in what they wear and use.

Weapons

While a wide variety of weapons are used by SWAT teams, the most common weapons include submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

Tactical aids include K9 Units, as well as a flashbang, stinger, and tear gas grenades.

Semi-automatic pistols are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to: M1911 pistol series, Sig Sauer series (especially the Sig P226 and Sig P229), Beretta 92 series, Glock pistols, H&K USP series, and 5.7x28mm FN Five-seveN pistol.

Common submachine guns used by SWAT teams include the 9 mm and 10 mm Heckler & Koch MP5, Heckler & Koch UMP, and 5.7x28mm FN P90.

Common shotguns used by SWAT units include the Benelli M1, Benelli M4, Benelli M1014Remington 870 and 1100, Mossberg 500 and 590.

Common carbines include the Colt CAR-15 and M4 and Heckler & Koch G36 and HK416. While affording SWAT teams increased penetration and accuracy at longer ranges, the compact size of these weapons is essential as SWAT units frequently operate in Close quarters combat (CQB) environments. The Colt M16A2  can be found used by marksmen or SWAT officers when a longer ranged weapon is needed.

Common sniper rifles used are the M14 rifle and the Remington 700P. Many different variants of bolt action rifles are used by SWAT, including limited use of .50 caliber sniper rifles for more intense situations.

To breach doors quickly, battering rams, shotguns with breaching rounds, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many non-lethal munitions and weapons. These include Tasers, pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with bean bag rounds, Pepperball guns, stinger grenades, flashbang grenades, and tear gas. Ballistic shields are used in close quarters situations to provide cover for SWAT team members and reflect gunfire. Pepperball guns are essentially paintball markers loaded with balls containing Oleoresin Capsicum ("pepper spray").

Vehicles

Lenco BearCat owned by the Lee County Sheriff's Office (Florida) SWAT team

SWAT units may also employ ARVs, (Armored Rescue Vehicle) for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians/officers pinned down by gunfire. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles. During the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging battle scene.

Units such as the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Special Response Team (SRT) used a vehicle called a B.E.A.R., made by Lenco Engineering which is a very large armored vehicle with a ladder on top to make entry into the second and third floors of buildings. Numerous other agencies such as the LAPD, LASD, and NYPD use both the B.E.A.R. and the smaller Lenco BearCat variant. Anaheim Police Department has a customized B.E.A.R. fitted with a ladder for assaulting multi-story buildings. Many SWAT teams in the states and around the world, including the LAPD, fit their armored and non-armored vehicles with the Patriot3 Liberator and 'MARS' (Mobile Adjustable Ramp System) Elevated Tactics Systems for gaining entry to 2nd and 3rd story buildings, airplane assault, sniper positioning, ship access, etc.

The Tulsa Police Department's SOT (Special Operations Team) uses an Alvis Saracen, a British-built armored personnel carrier. The Saracen was modified to accommodate the needs of the SOT. A Night Sun was mounted on top and a ram was mounted to the front. The Saracen has been used from warrant service to emergency response. It has enabled team members to move from one point to another safely.

The police departments of Killeen and Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. use the Cadillac Gage Ranger, as does the Florida Highway Patrol.

Criticism

The use of SWAT teams in non-emergency situations has been criticized. Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, authored Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.

Other studies include Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber from the same institute and Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units by Dr. Peter Kraska and his colleague Victor Kappeler, professors of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University, who surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold since the early 1980s.

For More Information On The History Of QRT / SWAT
CLICK HERE

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POLICE INFORMATION

Copies of: Your Baltimore Police Department Class Photo, Pictures of our Officers, Vehicles, Equipment, Newspaper Articles relating to our department and or officers, Old Departmental Newsletters, Lookouts, Wanted Posters, and or Brochures. Information on Deceased Officers and anything that may help Preserve the History and Proud Traditions of this agency. Please contact Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll.

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NOTICE

How to Dispose of Old Police Items

If you come into possession of Police items from an Estate or Death of a Police Officer Family Member and do not know how to properly dispose of these items please contact: Retired Detective Ken Driscoll - Please dispose of POLICE Items: Badges, Guns, Uniforms, Documents, PROPERLY so they won’t be used IMPROPERLY. 

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Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook or mail pics to 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222


Copyright © 2002 Baltimore City Police History - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll

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