Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office press release: 

 

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s SWAT team is bringing home new skills and knowledge to better serve and protect the public after participating in a 48-hour, 36-scenario exercise in the Bay Area September 6-10.

Urban Shield is a full-scale, international training program in which only 36 SWAT teams from across the world are invited to attend. The training is hosted annually in Alameda County and allows SWAT teams to practice tactical approaches in situations such as an active shooter in a school or office setting, terrorist acts at harbors, airports and public events, as well as hostage rescue. All scenarios practiced were based on real events.

“This is a great thing for our community, as this training will be utilized in every situation our SWAT team encounters in the future,” Sheriff William Honsal said. “It’s our job to be prepared for anything that could happen. Our team responded well and learned a lot.”

This year was the Humboldt County Sheriff’s SWAT team’s first year attending Urban Shield. The training was funded completely by the Urban Shield Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s SWAT team is comprised of law enforcement officers from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Eureka Police Department and Fortuna Police Department. The following SWAT members participated in Urban Shield: Sgt. Justin Braud, Sgt. Kerry Ireland, Sgt. Tony Gomes, Cpl. Joshua Comer, Ben Filippini, Kyle Holt, Cpl. Jim Mowery, Spellman Stallworth, Sgt. Shawn Sopoaga and Jon Omey.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal commends the Humboldt County Sheriff’s SWAT team for their excellence, dedication and hard work exhibited during Urban Shield.