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FBI director says SWAT treated as tier‑one element after equipment and funding changes
Summary
The FBI director told a roundtable the bureau reclassified SWAT under CERG for funding, bought Bearcats and night‑vision gear, and reported a historic tempo of operations, including 2,800 SWAT operations last year.
The Director of the FBI said the bureau has reorganized tactical response to treat SWAT teams as a tier‑one element, shifting funding and equipment decisions to a centralized program manager. "Last year, we did, I think, 2,800 SWAT ops... It's the most the FBI has ever done," the director said, describing rapid purchases of Bearcats, drones, night‑vision equipment and communications gear to support teams nationwide.
The director said that nesting SWAT funding under CERG allowed programmatic management and consistent resourcing across the 56 field office teams. Questioner (speaker 1) said the change addresses a long‑standing problem in small offices where teams often had to "beg, borrow, and steal" equipment. "That's that's awesome," the Questioner said in response to the director's description of new resources.
The roundtable exchange framed the change as field‑driven: the director said he heard operational shortfalls during visits to offices such as Miami, then worked with partners to prioritize funding. The director also linked the changes to improved HRT and SWAT response speeds during critical incidents.
