Local SWAT places 9th in competition
Tavares
Local SWAT places 9th in competition
MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer
millardives@dailycommercial.com
The Special Tactics and Weapons team of the Lake County Sheriff's Office placed 9th in the 30th annual SWAT roundup international competition in Orlando.
The unit also won the Presidential Award of Ex-cellence, an award based on comrade and sportsmanship.
The team, comprised of SWAT Commander Ralph McDuffie and seven other deputies, competed against 50 teams in the event that was held earlier this month.
"Hopefully citizens can understand and appreciate how much effort these guys put forward," Mc-Duffie said.
Leesburg Police De-partment placed 19th and Clermont Police Depart-ment finished 29th.
Held by the Florida SWAT Association at the Orange County Sheriff's range and sponsored mostly by that county's policing agencies, most of the teams came from surrounding counties, many from other states and some from other countries, including Russia, Brazil, Bosnia, Ja-maica.
Janice Kunitsugu, one of the judges, said the round-up is a highly regarded professional showcase for special operations teams from all around the world. Over the years, more than 1,200 elite teams have attended.
"They gather together each year for an opportunity to learn from each other, attend training classes, enhance their brotherhood, and show their determination and skill in completing each event," Kunitsugu said.
There were six challenging mandatory events geared to simulate real life scenarios such as hostage rescue and tower scramble as well as individual events like the Super SWAT Cop competition.
The Marion County She-riff's Office was the top winner and the Orange County Sheriff's Office finished 14th.
McDuffie said the Lake sheriff's SWAT unit has placed higher in previous years at the annual competition.
"We will do better," he said.
Friday, January 04, 2013 - www.dailycommercial.com/4jan2013sw