Sheriff Julian Whittington and the Bossier Sheriff’s Office, along with the Shreveport Police Department, are hosting 12 teams this week for the annual Louisiana Tactical Police Officer’s Association SWAT Competition. These teams travelled from all over the state to Bossier Parish to compete in this grueling 2-day competition that has been months in the making. The first day of competition consists of 3 stages that test the teamwork, skill, and precision of 4 team members and a designated sniper. The stages consist of challenges that test the physical and thinking capabilities of the team members combined with precision shooting. All of the events are timed with deductions for missed shots and procedural violations.
Day two is another grueling day as the teams are pushed to their physical limits by the Bossier Sheriff’s Office obstacle course and a sniper only competition. This obstacle course is also timed with time addition for unfinished obstacles by participants. The sniper’s competition is a course designed to challenge all of the disciplines of a trained SWAT sniper. The winners will be decided by a combination of all three competition scores from the two-day event.
The competition will culminate in an awards banquet and dinner on Wednesday night where the winners will be announced. The week-long event will also consist of a vendor show on Wednesday and training workshops on Thursday and Friday that will give teams the opportunities to gain new skills and knowledge.
Teams competing this year are from the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office, Hammond Police Department, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department, Lake Charles Police Department, Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office, Ouachita Correctional, Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office, and West Monroe Police Department.
Photos by Stacey Tinsley/Press-Tribune
