Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 Source: Johnson City Press (TN) Copyright: 2003 Johnson City Press and Associated Press Contact: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1983 Author: Chris Garland, Erwin Bureau UNICOI COUNTY SWAT TEAM TRAINED, READY TO RESPOND ERWIN - The new Unicoi County Sheriff's Department SWAT team is ready, trained and equipped to respond at any given moment. Eight UCSD officers have enlisted, with the team completing training paid for by Nuclear Fuel Services at the Institute of Security Services, a subsidiary of NFS, in February. The team received other donations or used drug-fund money to pay for everything else needed. SWAT team leader Sheriff Kent Harris said that in the past, the county depended on the help of other departments in the area when such skills were needed. During a raid last year, Harris said he had to climb into a window to arrest a man who was hiding a gun behind his head in his hand. At that time, Harris told another officer he was working with that they needed a professional team to handle such situations. "We have been issued some pagers through the county, and have not had to use any of this year's budget money for this," Harris said. "NFS has a real nice training center and has an excellent program, and they are accredited to train special teams. We are one of NFS's first responders, and they wanted to help us with this, and have provided all the training. "Some of the fully automatic weapons belong to some of the officers, and we have been donated others. A barrier shield with blinding bright lights has been ordered, and we will pay for that out of our (drug-fund) money. Most of the situations where you need a team like this are drug related." Harris said he has been previously trained in special tactics and for SWAT techniques by NFS last year. Also on the team is Investigator Keith Edwards, who is certified as a shooting specialist and handles department training. Also a part of the team is Investigator Ronnie Adkins, who Harris said is a crack shot and also has special training. K-9 officer "Andy" and handler Robby Rutherford have also joined the team, with ex-U.S. Marine Regan Tilson and officers Ron Arnold and Gregg Copp. "All these men have special skills and have taken special training that can be used in a unique team," Harris said. "One is a paramedic and some of them are going through more training in the future for things like handling methamphetamine labs. "Between all of us, we have 100 years of experience. Most of the members spend a lot of their own personal time and money to take care of things the they might need. They are all dedicated to this community and want to be ready for any situation. "We are a growing community, and when the new interstate opens we don't want to wish we had the expertise and training, we want to be ready to respond." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth