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Galveston SWAT – In The Beginning
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Galveston SWAT – In The Beginning
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recommended in 1975 that the Galveston Police Department organize a fully functional Special Weapons and Tactical Unit, Police Chief D.K. Lack called to the task three of his one field supervisors, Sergeants James Bierman, Howard Picard and Eddie Benavidez.
The F.B.I. had determined that because of Galveston’s port and industrial complex, it’s geographical location on the Texas Gulf Coast, and the distance from Houston where the nearest organized SWAT unit was located, Galveston should form it’s own. The federal government offered to furnish all the necessary equipment and gear as well as start-up money and funds for training. It was such a sweet deal that Chief Lack had no problem deciding to go forward with it..GIF)
Benavidez was a decorated, Marine Corps. combat veteran, twice wounded, and with a chest full of medals. He had ‘been there, done that’, as the saying goes, and there was no doubt that he was up to the task. He was selected to command this new unit.
“I put out a call for volunteers,” Benavidez says, “and once I got them all together the F.B.I. sent two men to train us. We gave them physical training (PT). There were no guidelines and I didn’t know what to administer so I gave them the Marine Corps. PT tests. They had to run three miles and do pushups and setups. We started training at the YMCA and at Ball High School Stadium.”
After the new SWAT Unit had completed an initial 40 hours of training under F.B.I. guidelines, Benavidez, and Bierman, along with officer’s Joe Maffei, Jim Fisher and Captain Ernest Galvan attended FBI SWAT Training in Quantico, Virginia. There, they underwent 50-hours of intensive training.
In Benavidez’s office on the second floor of police headquarters on Ball Street are displayed an array of scrapbooks, photo albums and memorabilia for the dozens of SWAT operations that he conducted as commander of the unit. His office wall is adorned with citations, plaques, photographs and certificates attesting to his years as a combat soldier and police officer. Entering his office one would quickly recognize that Eddie Benavidez is always in the ‘thick of things’ when the action starts.
One such incident occurred in late September, 1975. The Galveston SWAT Team had barely been formed when it was called out to the University of Texas Medical Branch to apprehend a man with a gun in a building under construction.
The incident had begun shortly after 7 o’clock that morning after someone reported a man with a gun and a short time later shots being fired. UTMB Police called for assistance from Galveston Police who dispatched the SWAT Team. Benavidez said his team began sweeping each flooring of the building, one at a time, and as they advanced up to the next floor, they would leave pair of officers in case the suspect came down as they advanced. Officer did not know which floor the shooter was on so a careful search of each floor was made as they advanced to the top floor. Two six-man teams conducted the floor-by-floor search until they finally reached the top of the building where they were confronted by 26-year old Jerome Torreros. Benavidez and Sergeant James Bierman, with assault weapons leveled at Torreros, continued to advance on him until Torreros reached the edge of the roof whereupon he threw down his rifle and surrendered.
The action which lasted over five hours prompted a Resolution by the Galveston City Council praising the new SWAT Team and the fact that the incident was brought to a conclusion without injury or death.
In the beginning the Galveston SWAT Team was organized along the same lines as the famous Los Angeles Police Department team. LAPD SWAT was the first in the country organized by legendary Police Chief Darrell Gates. LAPD SWAT set the standards for other police departments across the country. Their organizational structure was adopted by the Houston Police Department and later passed on to Galveston as SWAT leaders from the island city trained with the Houston SWAT.
The Galveston SWAT Team provides the primary response to high risk incidents involving hostages, barricaded suspects, anti-sniper situations, and specialized support in the riot control environment. All members of the team come from within the ranks of Galveston Police Department and perform the SWAT function in addition to their other day to day duties within the department. To date the SWAT Team has responded to hundreds of high risk incidents.
The SWAT Team has responded to some of the most serious hostage and barricaded suspect incidents in Galveston and in neighboring communities. The most recent being a major drug interdiction in Dickinson in which over two dozen suspects were arrested. Also the unit has conducted well over 100 operations. Several stand out in the mind of Eddie Benavidez.
In September, 1984 the SWAT Team was used to protect 40 members of the Ku Klux Klan as they marched through downtown in a ‘white power’ demonstration. Team members completely encircled the marchers. Other than some jeers from onlookers there were no problems.
In March of 1986 25 Galveston Police Officers , led by 13 members of the SWAT Team, two armed with tear gas dispensers, confronted 250 longshoremen protesting the use of nonunion labor at Sullivan Enterprises on Old Port Industrial Boulevard. The team tapped their nightsticks in synchronization with their steps and released pepper spray into the crowd. The frustrated protesters dispersed.
Two years later, in March, 1988, a SWAT Sniper killed 58-year old Billy C. Lynn after a long standoff with police at 4314 Avenue L. Lynn had previously shot a neighbor then barricaded himself inside the home. Police negotiators were unsuccessful in their efforts to coax him out. Teargas grenades were lobbed through a window but a brisk north wind blew most of the gas over the house. Police Chief Robert Steen ordered a ‘green light’ for the marksman to ‘take him out.’
During the time that Sergeant Eddie Benavidez commanded the SWAT Unit, February 1975 to August, 1996, the team responded to 26 calls to extricated barricaded suspects and six hostage situations. That does not include the KKK march, or labor unrest in the incidents highlighted in this story. Additionally his unit was involved in security at every Mardi Gras event.
Currently the Galveston Police Department SWAT Team maintains the ability to respond to high risk incidents, throughout Galveston County, at any hour of the day or night, regardless of weather. The unit is on a 24-hour call-out basis at all times. In addition to response to critical incidents, the SWAT Team conducts regular training within the department, and assists other agencies in training functions. The Team is equipped to handle a wide array of critical incidents including modern threats such as initial response to terrorist incidents, and scenarios involving the use of chemical or biological weapons. The SWAT Team maintains a close working relationship with a wide variety of other agencies in and around Galveston County, including many Federal Agencies.
The Galveston Police Department SWAT Team is a highly professional, well-equipped and experienced unit ready to respond to any future high risk law enforcement incident. The unit is training now for contingencies which could occur well into the next millennium.
The SWAT Team will provide highly trained tactical teams for incidents such as hostage situations, barricaded suspects, high-risk warrant executions, high-order dignitary protection and special assistance during riot or crowd control situations.
A fully capable tactical unit can respond anywhere in the county, at anytime. A rapid-response element of the team can usually be on-scene in substantially less time if the situation requires it.
