By Leo King
Staff Writer
ORANGE PARK – Two members of Clay County’s S.W.A.T team were speakers at a Rotary Club of Orange park on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
They carry some heavy hand-held weapons when they are required to. For example, an M-4 lay on a table at the luncheon along with a multi-launcher.
Of the two weapons they brought, McKinney said the multi-launcher “is used in riot situations. If we were to have a riot, we would use those for gas deployment. They also have a lot of non-lethal rounds you can shoot out of that to try and keep down the crowds.”
No one was allowed to take photos of the two officers because they are also in the Clay County Sheriff’s Office drug enforcement programs. Sgt. Wayne McKinney said he and his partner, Det. David Vaughn, make several drug deals a day catching bad guys.
McKinney, with a buzz haircut, has been a deputy for 10 years, the last five on drug enforcement and the last seven on the S.W.A.T. team, and Vaughn a deputy for five years with four years on the S.W.A.T. team. Vaughn has long hair tied in a ponytail. Both were dressed in green, military style utility uniforms.
“S.W.A.T.” McKinney explained, stands for “Special Weapons and Tactics.”
“It’s not ‘Students working against tobacco,” he quipped.
He explained, “The sheriff buys us some upgraded weapons and upgraded equipment so that we can do our jobs a little more effectively.”
The pair also does a lot of undercover work, so no photos were permitted – no need to help the bad buys. McKinney explained, “We are both members of the narcotics unit as well. That was the reason for no photos. We buy drugs daily and some people might see our picture in the paper… ‘Oh, I know who this guy is. I just sold him a house of weed last night.’ We try to avoid that.”
McKinney said “We have a 30-man team. We train two days out of every month,” and that includes “shooting skills, tactical skills.”
He said they also hold themselves to “a higher standard than your normal deputy would.”
McKinney said they respond to terrorist activities.
“Back in ’04 we trained with the Jacksonville S.W.A.T. team as part of their preparedness for the Super Bowl. We had a lot of state and national agencies come in and give us some real good training on how to prepare for a large-scale thing.”
They also do a lot of scenario training with the state involving chemical attacks, he added, and they are also part of a Northeast Florida tactical team.
They all train together, but “we run into a lot of issues with radios and things of that nature. If we do have a big incident, it is hard to coordinate between the fire department, the sheriff’s office, police department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Everyone has their own radio systems and their own gear. We’ve done a lot of training with those agencies to make it work more effectively so we can use a lot of the same radio frequencies, and things of that nature.”
McKinney added Orange Park Police and Green Cove Springs police officers are also part of the tactical team.
The luncheon was so well-attended the Holiday Inn staff on Park Avenue had to bring in another table and seven seats.
Next week’s luncheon will be at Orange Park Junior High School at noon. Anna Taylor, of Take Stock in Children, will discuss a mentoring and scholarship program in Clay County.
lking@jcpgroup.com