Central Texas Regional SWAT Team

The Cities of Georgetown, Leander, Cedar Park, and Pflugerville police and fire departments along with tactical medics from Williamson County EMS comprise the Central Texas Regional SWAT team. The chiefs of police and fire from these cities realized the importance of a collaborative effort to create a competent and proficient tactical team including well-trained negotiators and tactical medics. With the growing demands for tactical response in all three of the rapidly growing cities, the joining of resources into a single, fully functional tactical team benefits each department and the communities they protect and serve.

• CTRS began the selection process in June of 2014 in anticipation of creating the team. Members from all three cities went through testing and evaluation that lasted approximately 9 months.
• CTRS consists of highly qualified personnel who use the latest technology and operate from a "best practices" framework as set forth by the National Tactical Officers Association and the Texas Tactical Peace Officers Association.
• With this in mind, CTRS is specially trained in handling high-risk operations. CTRS maintains and issues various weaponry, equipment, and supplies that tactical officers use in handling barricaded persons, hostage situations, high-risk arrests, search warrants, and other special incidents.
• CTRS maintains and operates specialized rescue vehicles used in various situations. The mission of CTRS is to preserve life in all situations through the use of specialized training, equipment, and tactics in a professional manner that inspires confidence in the community. All operations will be conducted with the highest regard for the preservation of life.
• CTRS is committed to the safe resolution of all high-risk situations and will approach each situation in a professional and controlled manner, with an emphasis on a negotiated resolution.
• CTRS attends the best available specialized training uses specialized equipment to accomplish its mission and develops the specialized skills of each team member.
• CTRS is committed to a controlled, rapid response to high-risk situations in order to gain control and minimize the risk of death or injury to any person.
• Team members approach their duties with a high level of confidence, motivation, flexibility, and patience.
• CTRS members acknowledge their dependence upon one another and work as a team in an atmosphere of trust, confidence, and open communication.

The selection process for tactical officers, negotiators, and medics is extremely challenging both mentally and physically. The team is commanded by Lieutenants Derral Partin, Chanse Thomas, Makeba Lewis, and Sergeant Matt Turowski.

Crisis Negotiators

The purpose of the Crisis Negotiations Team is to assist the Central Texas Regional SWAT Operators in their response to emergency critical incidents. The team deploys specially equipped Crisis Negotiators who are trained in the techniques of negotiating a safe resolution to critical incidents. The Crisis Negotiator Team is part of the Central Texas Regional SWAT Team and they work very closely with tactical operators to accomplish the safe resolution of situations.

Crisis Negotiations personnel work together with other members of the Central Texas Regional SWAT Team on calls that involve barricaded suspects, hostage takers, armed suicidal persons, and unarmed suicidal persons. These unusual situations can be very difficult and unpredictable but can be effectively managed when utilizing trained Crisis Negotiations personnel. These members of the CTRS team can be instrumental in safely resolving the situation and greatly reducing the chances of injury and loss of life.

The Crisis Negotiator section of the CTRS Team consists of multiple negotiators and is supervised by the CTRS Commanders (Lieutenants Derral Partin, Chanse Thomas, Makeba Lewis, and Sergeant Matt Turowski), Team Leader Sergeant Justin Miller, and Assistant Team Leaders Officer Autumn Kessler and Lieutenant John Lauden.

The Crisis Negotiations division of the CTRS Team is focused on saving lives, reducing risks, and bringing crisis situations to a peaceful resolution. They have proven to be a valuable tool in reducing violence and have assisted in saving the lives of people who have temporarily lost the ability to process a traumatic moment in their lives.

The most important part of the SWAT team is our crisis negotiators.