Local SWAT Team Named Best in State

The Foothill Special Enforcement Team (F-Set) was chosen Monday as the top SWAT Team in the state by an association of tactical officers, according to the Monrovia Police Department.

F-Set, the regional SWAT team made up of officers from the Monrovia, Glendora, Irwindale, LaVerne and San Marino police departments, was selected as the best team by the California Association of Tactical Officers.

Founded in 2004, F-SET was one of the first regional SWAT teams in Los Angeles County and is now one of the county's largest, according to a Monrovia Police news release. F-Set, which includes a sniper team and a crisis negotiation team, trains twice a month and handles an average of one "high risk" incident per month, the release states.

The team responded to the following incidents over the last year, per the MPD:

• In December of 2011, FSET responded to an active shooter incident at the Southern California Edison facility in Irwindale. FSET personnel conducted a tactical search for injured persons and located a victim who was losing a great deal of blood from a gunshot wound. The victim survived, due to the rapid response of the team and the immediate medical care provided.

• In June of 2012, FSET responded to a call in the City of Monrovia of a convicted felon with weapons at a residence, threatening to shoot the police. FSET crisis negotiators attempted for hours to get the suspect to give up peaceably. Eventually, the team used tear gas in the residence and the suspect surrendered, unharmed.

• In March of 2012, FSET served a high-risk search warrant in the City of Baldwin Park. The suspect was barricaded inside the residence. The team deployed tear gas and the suspect surrendered, unharmed. Four firearms, ammunition, a ballistic vest, black hoods and drugs were located.