Natrona County Special Response Team Trains at Casper’s Roosevelt High School [VIDEO]
Members of the Natrona County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team wore tactical gear and wielded weapons as they trained at Casper's Roosevelt High School on Wednesday.
The team trains twice a month to prepare to serve high-risk search and arrest warrants, navigate hostage situations or even protect dignitaries.
"We hope dangerous situations don't present themselves, but in such cases, we always hope they end peacefully," Undersheriff Mark Sellers said Wednesday.
Most recently, SRT members were dispatched to Riverton and assisted the Fremont County Sheriff's Office in serving a high-risk arrest warrant back in March.
In February, the team was called out to Bar Nunn and was engaged in a nine-hour standoff with allegedly violent suspects.
That incident culminated in the firing of tear-gas rounds, use of less-than-lethal force against one suspect and ultimately the arrest of 43-year-old William Mason Quillin and 45-year-old Sharon Marie Hinkle.
The team, run by the sheriff's office, is comprised of deputies as well as officers from the Casper and Mills police departments. First established in 1983 under the sheriff's office, the part-time team first became multi-jurisdictional in 1992.
Officers have to apply and gain their department's approval before participating in a selection day, which is held once each year if an agency has an open position on the team.
After participating in selection day, applicants are either accepted or rejected based on a vote by current team members.
New team members serve on a probationary basis for their first year and must complete a 40-hour basic class before participating in SRT calls.
Team tactics and the identities of members are typically kept under wraps, but Sellers says their work does not go unnoticed.
"After the Bar Nunn incident, we received a couple of emails thanking the team," Sellers said.