AREA SWAT TEAMS HONE THEIR SKILLS.

Byline: David Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

The fusillade of gunshots was deafening and cool overcast weather could not ease sweat pouring out from under 50 pounds of gear, yet Simi Valley police special weapons team members were anxious to test their skills Monday.

Teams from nine Southland agencies, including the Simi Valley and Oxnard police departments and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, turned out for the fifth annual SWAT competition sponsored by the Ventura Police Department.

With an increased need for deployments to cover warrant searches involving drugs and gangs, the Special Weapons and Tactics units used the event for something more than bragging rights.

``It's extremely important,'' said David Cowan, a Simi Valley SWAT team leader. ``Since we're not a full-time SWAT team, any day of training we get is valuable to us. I have a family and I want to go home at night.''

Unlike Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Los Angeles Police Department SWAT teams, who are always in training or deployment, the various Ventura County units receive only about two training sessions a month. Training focuses on shooting drills, entry techniques and gas drills.

The four SWAT units in the county - the Ventura police unit did not participate in the competition - are all part time and assigned to other duties within their departments.

Besides warrant searches, SWAT teams are called out to detain armed individuals who have barricaded themselves in buildings or taken hostages.

SWAT teams also are assigned to protect dignitaries. Area teams, for instance, were used when Republican presidential candidates Bob Dole and Jack Kemp made campaign stops in the county in 1996, as well as when President Bush and four living former presidents appeared at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 1991.

``There are a lot of times we're activated and you wouldn't know it,'' said Ventura police Lt. Carl Handy, a former SWAT team leader. ``The lower the profile, the better.''

Shots are rarely fired during real deployments. Training exercises give teams skills to storm into buildings undetected and quickly apprehend suspects.

Monday's competition, though, was significantly louder.

The competition took place at Camarillo Airport and the sheriff's shooting range in the hills above Ventura City Hall.

There was target shooting with shotguns, 9 mm semiautomatic handguns, 9 mm MP-5 automatic machine guns and .223-caliber AR-15 long-range sniper rifles.

Exercises included tackling obstacle courses and the simulated takedown of a vehicle containing a hostage and a warrant search in which SWAT units were fired upon with plastic paint bullets.

``Getting hit with a simulation bullet adds to the intensity of the situation,'' Handy said. ``It stings like hell.''

With Simi Valley in perennial competition with Thousand Oaks for status as the nation's safest among cities with at least 100,000 residents, its SWAT team members said they are called into action only about eight or 10 times a year.

Corey Ward, a member of Simi Valley SWAT's gas unit, said training heightens his sense of security while on regular patrol.

``You're able to handle problems that the normal patrol officer doesn't have the equipment to handle,'' he said. ``You see situations in the field where you're able to use some of your (SWAT) training.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Members of the Simi Valley SWAT team storm a simulated suspect's house Monday in Ventura.

(2--Color) Wearing 50 pounds of gear each, Simi SWAT team members move in for confrontation during skills-sharpening competition Monday in Ventura.

(3) With one of their own felled by a plastic paintball, Simi Valley SWAT members pull him to safety.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News