In early 2010 the SWAT team received its 
Bearcat. The Bearcat is an armored personnel carrier. This 
vehicle was purchased with funding from OJA and Homeland Security 
($225,000.00). The Green Bay Police Department SWAT team is one of eight
 teams in the State of Wisconsin that have a Bearcat. The eight teams 
are all Regional teams. These eight teams are strategically 
located throughout the state. The Bearcat has been deployed on 
numerous calls in 2010.

There are many different types of calls that the SWAT team responds 
to. The SWAT team needs to train for as many potential scenarios 
as possible. Team members never know when they will be called to put 
this training to use on a high risk call. Over the past 10 years the 
SWAT team has done numerous trainings in the Green Bay Public Schools to
 prepare for the possibility of an active shooter. On 11-29-10 at 5:15pm
 we received that call. Marinette High School was involved in a 
standoff in their school where shots had been fired. At the time 
of the call there were 24 students being held at gun point in a 
classroom. The Green Bay Police Department SWAT team was asked by 
the Chief of Police from Marinette to respond and assist them with the 
standoff. At approximately 7pm the Green Bay SWAT team took over 
the tactical element. At 8:03pm the Green Bay SWAT team made entry into 
the classroom as shots were being fired. Once the SWAT team was in
 the room the gunman took his own life. There were no other 
injuries from this standoff. Training is very important to what we
 do and it paid off in this incident.

We added two new tactical officers and five negotiator / radio 
operators in 2010. Officers Bob Matheny and Rob Bourdelais are the new 
tactical team members. They are both entry/ marksmen on the 
team. Officers Scott Stimpson, Joe Hoyer, Andy Weiss, Craig 
Pakkala, and Detective Lee Kingston are our new negotiators and radio 
operators. We also had the following SWAT officers retire from the 
team: Tactical Officers Brain Stanton and Dan Younk, and 
Negotiators Detective Jim Swanson and School Resource Officer Denise 
Servais.

As a member of the Regional SWAT teams, the Green Bay Police SWAT 
Team is viewed as a leader in the northeast part of the state. In 2010 
we have extended several offers to other smaller agencies to train and 
learn SWAT tactics from us. Several agencies have accepted this offer. 
It’s been very rewarding for us to meet other SWAT Officers and give 
them a chance to train with us. This commitment to being the leader will
 benefit all as we strive to make northeast Wisconsin a safer place to 
live.

The Green Bay SWAT Team is supervised by Rick Demro, SWAT Commander, 
Brad Florence, Officer in Charge (OIC), and Dave Wesley, OIC.