The Entry Team is comprised of four officers and a team leader, usually a sergeant. Their primary duty is to be the first SWAT members to be in direct physical contact with the suspect. This may be either through a negotiated surrender, unplanned suspect exit or by making a planned entry into a structure.

The Entry teams first duty is to insure they are ready to deal with any situation they might encounter within the first few minutes of a call. The first 30 to 45 minutes are the most unpredictable due to the suspect's state of mind and the rapidly changing situation. The Entry Team must be ready to react to the suspect's actions in a preplanned and organized method.

If the initial physical contact is the result of a negotiated surrender via the Hostage Negotiation Team.  The Entry Team will serve as the contact and arrest team. Once the suspect is within sight, the team takes over the verbal commands and directs the suspect to a point where they can take the suspect into custody safely. When the suspect makes contact due to an unplanned exit, the Entry Team is ready to react and contact the suspect under rapidly changing conditions. The team has a number of options to encourage compliance with verbal commands including a number of less-lethal munitions.

When circumstances dictate the Entry team stands ready to make a planned entry into the structure the suspect has occupied. The entry may take several forms but the objective is always the same, a peaceful resolution of the situation with the minimum use of force allowed by the suspect's actions.