The Abilene Police Department Tactical Unit was formed in 1978 in response to 2 barricaded person incidents in the previous year. When formed, the unit consisted of a Sergeant and 5 patrol officers on full time assignment. The Tactical Unit transitioned to be a part time team 1 year later as it remains today.

The Tactical Unit stands ready to respond to and address any situation. The Abilene Police Department has and continues to assist other agencies in the area which do not maintain a SWAT/Tactical Unit. The number of responses the unit makes every year varies greatly, but to date the Tactical Unit has not been forced to kill any of the persons they have encountered.

The Tactical Unit evolved from a 6-man unit into a 25-man team, consisting of Entry, Perimeter, Counter-Sniper, Negotiation and Support Teams. The Tactical Unit is Commanded by a Lt. and 4 Sergeants. Each officer must go through a rigorous physical and mental evaluation to be selected to the SWAT Unit. Officers, while primarily assigned to patrol companies, are spread throughout all the divisions of the police department.

When formed, the Tactical Unit was assigned whatever specialized weapons were currently in the department's inventory. Over the ensuing years the Tactical Unit has upgraded its equipment inventory to include MP5 Submachine Guns, Remington 700 Sniper Rifles and Sage SL1/SL6 Less Lethal Impact Munitions, with officers providing their individual handguns. Our goal has always been the peaceful resolution of every situation with the minimal use of force. Each of the specialized weapons and shields employed are designed to reach that goal while providing the maximum of officer safety.

The Tactical Unit also maintains an inventory of Chemical and Impact munitions along with distraction devices to assist in difficult situations or when dealing with non-compliant persons.

Officer's personal equipment normally includes a kevlar helmet, ballistic body armor, load bearing vest, goggles and knee/elbow pads.

The amount of training received by officers has increased over the years to deal with the number of situations Tactical Unit officers are responsible for responding to. Currently SWAT officers train once every three weeks for 10 hours. Training includes Basic and Advanced SWAT skills and specialized skills like rappelling, K9 Ops and Vehicle Assaults. Tactical Unit Negotiators receive ongoing training in dealing with many of the personalities encountered.

Violent crime requiring specialized police response had been on the rise throughout the country. The majority of the larger cities had, for some years, utilized Special Weapons and Tactics teams (SWAT) to deal with these situations.

The need for such a team though had been realized following two barricaded suspect incidents in 1976. Budget restraints and manpower shortages, however, stalled the formation of a SWAT unit in Abilene. During 1977, a group of officers were selected to start training in Police Tactical Operations. These officers trained together, but were still assigned to different patrol companies. There was no money to obtain equipment for the unit, so the needed items were obtained from existing police resources. The initial plan was to call these officers together in the event of a crisis situation requiring a tactical response.

The incorporation of the SWAT concept was finally approved in the 1978-1979 budget. All the officers initially selected attended a tactical training school in San Angelo during April 1978. Shortly after their return from this school, the officers were pulled from their patrol companies and permanently assigned to the SWAT team.

These situations specifically included barricaded persons, sniper situations, and hazardous apprehensions. The team was also assigned to specialized patrol operations in high crime areas. The team saw it's first test on September 25th 1978.