A combined SWAT team of Roseville and Rocklin police officers has added a third agency to the group.
Lincoln will contribute three police officers to the effort, making it a "Tri- Cities" team, said Dee Dee Gunther, a spokeswoman for the Roseville Police Department.
"The advantage to the public is that now there is a larger team available to respond to critical incidents in any of the three member cities," Gunther said.
"The teams train together and share equipment. When they respond to a critical incident, they will all be well-trained, and they will use common protocols and procedures."
Gunther said the combination of three police departments in SWAT emergencies is more efficient because the team will share larger, more expensive pieces of specialized equipment, rather than each city having to purchase its own.
SWAT stands for Special Weapons and Tactics. SWAT teams are law enforcement units trained for emergency or dangerous incidents, including dealing with armed or barricaded subjects, hostage situations, terrorist attacks and the serving of arrest or search warrants on high-risk individuals.
SWAT teams carry an assortment of specialized firearms, and they sometimes use body armor and armored vehicles to gain entry into high-risk locations.
Lincoln Police Chief Brian Vizzusi was pleased to have his officers join the Roseville-Rocklin team.
He said Lincoln has "two to three" incidents a year that require the use of a SWAT team.
"We've never had our own SWAT team before," Vizzusi said. "We relied on the SWAT team of the Placer County Sheriff's Department. We were just too small of a department in the past."
However, with burgeoning growth in Lincoln, the Police Department also has also expanded, he said.
"We have 42 sworn peace officers," he said. "Just in the last 18 months, we have hired 21 new employees, including 15 sworn police officers."
For now, Lincoln will contribute three members to the Tri-Cities SWAT team. They are Cpl. Dan Borgeson as a hostage negotiator, Officer Wes Collins as an entry team member and Officer Tim Jaekel as a driver.
The county Sheriff's Department has its own SWAT team, while the Auburn Police Department has a combined SWAT team with the Placerville Police Department.
The Bee's Art Campos can be reached at (916) 773-2825.
