The email went out to all sworn officers, titled something similar to “join the SWAT team”. I was sitting in the traffic office writing my reports when it came through. I read it and thought, “that would be so cool, but probably not for me.” I looked at the physical exam qualifications, and I knew if I trained for it, I could do it. But again, I convinced myself, “not for me.”
At this point in my career I was a traffic officer. I enjoyed traffic and I was good at it. Mostly because after I graduated the police academy I was hired by a police department in San Diego that was BIG on traffic violations and Driving Under the Influence (DUI) investigations. I was very knowledgeable in all things traffic. Don’t ask me anything now-a-days, because that is definitely a perishable skill I have lost my touch in.
The more I had chatted with my partners, the more I thought about trying out for this developing SWAT team. At the time, I was involved in a CrossFit gym regularly. I asked my coach if he would help me prepare for the physical exam and he said yes. The physical exam qualification was ;
.25 mile run
5 pull ups , 15 push ups, 30 air squats
.25 run
5 pull ups, 15 push ups, 30 air squats
.25 mile run
All while wearing a 20 pound weighted vest. So I put in a letter of interest, and I trained , for MONTHS! When the test came around, I did it. There was also an in person interview. Weeks later the email came out…and I was selected to join the team on one condition. The condition was to complete the San Bernardino County Sheriff Departments SWAT school. I was set to go to swat school in late February of 2020.
My now husband, Officer T, had just gone through the school. It was known to be one of the more physically demanding swat schools in the area. He wanted to help me, but I was stubborn (not a believer yet) and told him I did not need anyones help. Off to swat school I went.
To not bore you with the details, it was hard. I lost about 10 pounds in 3 weeks, all while eating a 3-5,000 calorie diet. They ran us hard. I remember drinking water bottle after water bottle and never once needing to go to the bathroom, because I was sweating it all out. I was the only female in the class, which had its many challenges. Most would assume I was treated differently, but I was not. The only perk I received was having a bathroom and locker room all to myself.
I made some good friends while in the class. One of them was Deputy Philip Campas from the Kern County Sheriff’s department. Everyday at lunch he would be blasting Mexican music, LOUDLY, from his patrol vehicle and I loved every minute of it. Deputy Campas was killed in the line of duty on July 25, 2021.
Back to how hard this training program was. The first week of swat school the grind was from 5am to 6-7pm. Waking up, drinking coffee, driving to the training center, physical exercise training, class or range with a lot of running in between (as punishment), after training we had to clean our weapons, drive home, and sit in a warm bath for all the cuts, bruises and aches. I did this on repeat for 3 weeks. On weekends I laid around and ate.
I distinctly remember calling my older brother everyday after training and telling him I was ready to quit. He would give me a pep talk, tell me to stop being so weak minded and get back to work. So I did as he said.
We all knew that during the last week of the training program, we would be put through the gas house. One of the worst things to train as a new police officer is getting pepper sprayed, and going through the gas house. Tear gas is a CS gas designed to temporarily irritate and overwhelm the senses so people come out of places safely. It makes your eyes burn, causes coughing and burning feeling in your lungs, and irritates your skin.
In the police academy you walk through the gas house with assistance from staff who are wearing gas masks, from one end to the other. In swat school, you have to go in with a gas mask, take the gas mask off, and then put it back on to clear it. Then, you have to go back in there with no gas mask, get to the end, speak a short sentence, and walk back out. There are staff holding you up, but that only makes it so people don’t collapse on the ground. It does not make it suck any less.
The reason they make the program so physically demanding and run the students so hard, is because THATS the job. They would share stories about swat call outs where they would be in their full police kit (15-30 pounds of gear and weapons) and have to sit in one position for hours on end, run after someone , carry a partner out of a danger zone, and so many other things. They were preparing the students to be able to succeed.
I graduated swat school on March 6, 2020. I felt so accomplished. “I did it !” I thought. I was ready to get back to work. Little did I know I would be pregnant 2 months later, that the Lord would use to change the trajectory of my life. All that training I did , all the things I learned, I never got to use it on a swat team. The training, the Lord used as training for my life.
SarahNakamura 