WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — It’s always a hard charging endeavor when some of the top tactical teams in the country gather to compete.
That’s been the case for the past 20 years at the Connecticut SWAT Challenge. In 2024, the four-day long competition in Windsor Locks offered an array of events for the 37 teams that came to Connecticut from across the nation.
Chris Chappell, a retired West Hartford police lieutenant, who is the co-founder of the SWAT Challenge, said, “[It’s been] two decades, and this is a way to get all the agencies together, all the SWAT teams together, so that we know each other and so that we can learn from each other.”
Team after team emerged from an abandoned building that was just perfect for the event known as “The Mystery Challenge."
This year, the Mystery Challenge was an intense hostage rescue scenario where teams had to navigate under the cloak of darkness. And they were being scored.
Officer Mike Barnes, an 11-year veteran from the Greenwich Police Department and part of the emergency services unit there, said of the Mystery Challenge, “They change it every year and they confuse you too. They play mind games, but that’s the kind of stress you are under in a real situation - so, that’s why it’s the real situation that we need.”
Chappell added that there is a shared vision that comes from a week of competition.
"We want them to learn here, so they don’t make those mistakes out there," Chappell said. “It’s cutthroat at times, but at the end of the day, they’re all on the same team.”
To learn more about the Connecticut SWAT Challenge click here.
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Jim Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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