A six member team from the Lafayette Police Department's SWAT team competed in the 2015 Indiana SWAT Challenge and took the overall championship for the third consecutive time. The Lafayette Police SWAT team has now won the SWAT Challenge in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
The Challenge is an annual competition that is sponsored by the Indiana SWAT Officers Association. Once again, it was hosted at CAJMTC (Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center), Edinburgh, Indiana and was organized by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department. A total of 12 teams competed in the three day event on September 10th through September 12th. The competition is made up of numerous events which are timed and scored. Each event has different physical challenges, tactical challenges, shooting proficiency and skills based on SWAT training. The event’s score is based on the overall time with adjustments for shooting penalties and procedural mistakes. The events are purposely procedurally difficult to add mental stress to the already existing physical challenge. There were seven events over the course of three days. One event, named the "Hostage Rescue", was won by the Lafayette team assisting them to their overall victory.
The Lafayette SWAT team has competed annually in the Indiana SWAT Challenge since 2003. It has been held at several locations including Delaware County, Carmel and Camp Atterbury. This is the first time that a team has won the overall championship three years in a row.
The 2015 winning team members are Sgt. Adam Mellady, Sgt. Chad Robinson, Det. Nick Amor, Det. Scott Clark, Ofc. Ian O’Shields and Ofc. Michael Zambon.
Photographs of the trophies from this year and past years are attached.
Lt. Joseph Clyde
Lafayette SWAT Team Commander
Lafayette Police Department