The Leon County Sheriff's Office

The Leon County Sheriff's Office S.W.A.T. Team was formed in May of 1982 and consisted of six members. At the present time the S.W.A.T. Team is composed of nineteen members. Each member is selected from different areas within the department.

Each of the team members are assigned to either Criminal Investigations Bureau, Uniform Patrol, School Resource Officer's Unit, or the Detention Facility. The assignments of each of the team members are their primary duty assignments and they work as a SWAT Team member on an as needed basis.

From it's inception the Leon County Sheriff's Office has made a strong commitment to having the best SWAT Team possible. The team's mission first and foremost is to protect and to serve the public that they are sworn to defend.

Through training, armed with the proper equipment, and a strong desire and dedication to see that all S.W.A.T. situations are handled in a professional manner, the team will succeed in their mission. The team must be diligent in their efforts to save lives and protect against wrong.

In any S.W.A.T. situation all must be mindful that a successful SWAT call out cannot always be one in which a shot is not fired. There will be those situations where no other alternative exists, and in those situations the team will do that which is necessary to resolve the problem with the least risk to all persons.

The equipment and weapons the Leon County Sheriff's Office S.W.A.T. Team utilizes has increased from a couple of military M-16 rifles and handguns the original unit possessed to a S.W.A.T. Team equipped as well as any unit in the country.

The S.W.A.T. Team is capable of equipping all elements of our team with MP-5 sub-machine guns, a full assortment of chemical munitions, sniper rifles (such as.308 caliber and .223 caliber), as well as less lethal weapons including Sage and tasertron. The Team also uses full ballistic armor for team members including ballistic shields capable of withstanding rifle fire.

Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.