St. Charles Police will rejoin the St. Charles County Regional SWAT team and disband the city's special response team for the second time in seven years.
The St. Charles City Council could approve the move at the Aug. 6 meeting.
St. Charles previously operated a special response, or SWAT, program from 1980 until 2004. Then in 2005, the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department formed a regional SWAT team to serve the entire county. St. Charles participated in the regional team until 2010 when the city pulled five officers out of the County SWAT at the suggestion of then-Police Chief Dennis Corley.
Start up costs for restarting a St. Charles SWAT program were estimated at between $10,000-$12,000 in 2010.
Start Up Costs
Now, the city will spend about $10,000 on new equipment, rifles and uniforms to return to the County SWAT, said Chief Randy McKinley. Nine members of the St. Charles special response team will join St. Charles County SWAT, which has about 50 members, McKinley said.
"If we joined their team, our team grows exponentially," he said. "More people involved, more ability for equipment. Because we weren't a regional team, we didn't have access to Homeland Security funding."
County SWAT Welcomes Return
O'Fallon Police Chief Roy Joachimstaler, chairman of the executive board of the St. Charles County SWAT program, said the regional SWAT welcomes St. Charles back.
"They're a fully-trained team that used to be part of the team originally and for whatever reason, they went out on their own, but we're welcoming them back," he said. "It's like a reunion of sorts."
In 2010, St. Charles Police cited a high number of SWAT calls in the city of St. Charles as a reason to create its own program. Jaochimstaler said the city continues to receive a number of SWAT calls, but added that having a regional team allows for standardization of response.
The SWAT team responds to calls involving barricaded subjects, hostage situations and drug raids at which weapons might be present.
Currently, St. Charles County Sheriff's Department, O'Fallon, Lake Saint Louis, Wentzville and St. Peters participate in the St. Charles County SWAT.
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