UNICOI COUNTY SWAT TEAM TRAINED, READY TO RESPOND

ERWIN - The new Unicoi County Sheriff's Department SWAT team is ready,
trained and equipped to respond at any given moment.

Eight UCSD officers have enlisted, with the team completing training paid
for by Nuclear Fuel Services at the Institute of Security Services, a
subsidiary of NFS, in February. The team received other donations or used
drug-fund money to pay for everything else needed.

SWAT team leader Sheriff Kent Harris said that in the past, the county
depended on the help of other departments in the area when such skills were
needed.

During a raid last year, Harris said he had to climb into a window to
arrest a man who was hiding a gun behind his head in his hand. At that
time, Harris told another officer he was working with that they needed a
professional team to handle such situations.

"We have been issued some pagers through the county, and have not had to
use any of this year's budget money for this," Harris said. "NFS has a real
nice training center and has an excellent program, and they are accredited
to train special teams. We are one of NFS's first responders, and they
wanted to help us with this, and have provided all the training.

"Some of the fully automatic weapons belong to some of the officers, and we
have been donated others. A barrier shield with blinding bright lights has
been ordered, and we will pay for that out of our (drug-fund) money. Most
of the situations where you need a team like this are drug related."

Harris said he has been previously trained in special tactics and for SWAT
techniques by NFS last year. Also on the team is Investigator Keith
Edwards, who is certified as a shooting specialist and handles department
training. Also a part of the team is Investigator Ronnie Adkins, who Harris
said is a crack shot and also has special training.

K-9 officer "Andy" and handler Robby Rutherford have also joined the team,
with ex-U.S. Marine Regan Tilson and officers Ron Arnold and Gregg Copp.

"All these men have special skills and have taken special training that can
be used in a unique team," Harris said. "One is a paramedic and some of
them are going through more training in the future for things like handling
methamphetamine labs.

"Between all of us, we have 100 years of experience. Most of the members
spend a lot of their own personal time and money to take care of things the
they might need. They are all dedicated to this community and want to be
ready for any situation.

"We are a growing community, and when the new interstate opens we don't
want to wish we had the expertise and training, we want to be ready to
respond."