The primary mission of the Portage Police department SWAT team is to save lives. The team was founded in 1996 and was the first in Porter County. The objective is to provide a highly trained, equipped and disciplined team of police officers and paramedics capable of quickly and safely managing potentially volatile situations. The teams' high degree of versatility and specialized training allow it to be utilized in numerous Law Enforcement functions. The team responds to a wide variety of situations, such as hostage rescue, barricaded subject, felons, mentally unstable subjects, high risk warrants, raids, crowd control and operations designated by the Chief of Police. The team is on call 24 hours a day and responds immediately to calls for service. The team consists of twenty members, divided into two squads. Each squad has police and firefighter/paramedic members. The members are all volunteer and are assigned to other duties in the police and fire departments.
Sargeant James Maynard is the Portage SWAT Team Commander.
