As reported by Capecoral.com on August 30, 2011.
Cape Coral Police SWAT wins regional competition for 2nd straight year
The Cape Coral Police Department’s SWAT Team defended their title as Champions this past Saturday at the Region VI SWAT Competition.
The competition, hosted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, was made up of 10 teams; Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (two teams), Fort Myers PD, Collier County Sheriff’s, Office, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Cape Coral PD (two teams), Bradenton County Sheriff’s Office
The Competition was divided into three events, or stages:
• Stage One- consisted of a 400 yard run followed by a grueling obstacle course another 400 yard run and then a difficult shooting course made up of sniper rifles, shotgun and pistol shooting.
• Stage Two- consisted of a difficult firing course involving moving targets for the sniper team as well as shooting tear-gas rounds, shotgun, pistol and rifle shooting
• Stage Three- encompassed all elements of SWAT Team operations. Teams had to demonstrate proficiency in door breaching, running, sniper shooting from two different locations as well as officer rescue drills.
Cape Coral Police Team #1 took first place in all three stages. Cape’s Team #2 finished second in stage two. In the end, Cape Team #1 had a lead of 6 minutes over every other team and was a runaway winner for the second year in a row.
“The Cape Coral teams put all their heart into this competition, spending a considerable amount of their own time training for the events. These guys not only trained for the competition but continued to train on their regular SWAT training regimen,” said Sergeant Carlos Mena, a team leader for CCPD SWAT.