Felony Investigative Assistance Team
Encyclopedia
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, DuPage County, Illinois
DuPage County, Illinois
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 916,924, White Americans made up 77.9% of Dupage County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 70.5% of the population. Black Americans made up 4.6% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.3% of Dupage County's population...
, and Will County, Illinois
Will County, Illinois
As of the census of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 600 people per square mile . There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 210 per square mile...
. The taskforce protects approximately 300,000 residents in those jurisdictions. It is broken down into five units, four of which are staffed by assigned officers.
History
FIAT began in the 1970s as a group of small police departments in DuPage County, Illinois, identified the need to pool detectives for major investigations. Smaller law enforcement agencies having only a few detectives needed to "borrow" more investigators for crimes such as murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
, robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, or burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
. When FIAT began, all the chiefs of police (and the DuPage Co Sheriff) signed a mutual aid agreement which formalized the process of requesting additional detectives. With a single telephone call, a process to gather these detectives could be underway.
In 1999, the chiefs of those departments saw the need for a tactical unit that could respond to special emergencies such as hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
incidents, barricaded gunmen, active shooters, and high-risk warrant service. The acronym SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
was used to denote Special Weapons And Tactics. The team's motto is In Hoc Signo Vinces
In hoc signo vinces
In hoc signo vinces is a Latin rendering of the Greek phrase "" en touto nika, and means "in this sign you will conquer"....
.
Since then, FIAT has expanded to include a pool of traffic crash reconstructionists for fatal or serious injury accidents, as well as a police K9 response group. Now police dogs from member agencies can be called upon to assist in a variety of incidents.
Member agencies
- Brookfield, IllinoisBrookfield, IllinoisBrookfield is a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, west of downtown. The population was 19,085 at the 2000 census...
- Burr Ridge, IllinoisBurr Ridge, IllinoisBurr Ridge is a suburb of Chicago, in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois. The population was 11,560 at the 2008 census.-Geography:Burr Ridge is located at ....
- Clarendon Hills, IllinoisClarendon Hills, IllinoisClarendon Hills is an affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,610 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Clarendon Hills is located at...
- Darien, IllinoisDarien, IllinoisDarien is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, USA. The population was 22,086 at the 2010 census.A suburb of Chicago, Darien was named after a town in Connecticut.-Popular culture:...
- Downers Grove
- DuPage County
- Hinsdale, IllinoisHinsdale, IllinoisHinsdale is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois; it is located partly in Cook County and mainly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 17,349 at the 2000 census. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town has a rolling, wooded topography, with a quaint downtown and is a 30-minute...
http://villageofhinsdale.org - Illinois State PoliceIllinois State PoliceThe Illinois State Police is the state police force of Illinois. Officially established in 1922, the Illinois State Police have over 3,000 personnel and 21 districts. The main facilities of the Illinois State Police Academy, which were constructed in 1968, are located in Springfield. Prior to...
- Lisle, IllinoisLisle, IllinoisLisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,930 at the 2011 census, and estimated to be 23,135 as of 2008. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor...
- Lombard, IllinoisLombard, IllinoisLombard, "The Lilac Village", is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 42,322 at the 2000 census. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population in 2004 to be 42,975.-History:...
- Oak Brook, IllinoisOak Brook, IllinoisOak Brook is a village in DuPage and Cook Counties, in Illinois. The population was 8,702 at the 2000 census. A suburb of Chicago, it is the headquarters of McDonald's and Lions Clubs International.-History:...
http://oak-brook.org - Warrenville, IllinoisWarrenville, IllinoisWarrenville is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,363 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.-History:...
- Westmont, IllinoisWestmont, IllinoisWestmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Westmont is a community of six square miles in area, with a 2007 population of 26,211...
- Willowbrook, IllinoisWillowbrook, IllinoisWillowbook is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Illinois:*Willowbrook, DuPage County, Illinois*Willowbrook, Will County, Illinois...
- Winfield, IllinoisWinfield, IllinoisWinfield is an incorporated village located in Milton and Winfield Townships, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,718 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 9,984 in 2008....
- Wood Dale, IllinoisWood Dale, IllinoisWood Dale is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,535 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wood Dale is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
- Woodridge, IllinoisWoodridge, IllinoisWoodridge is a suburb of Chicago, located primarily in DuPage County, Illinois with portions in Will County and Cook County. It uses the 630 and 331 area codes. The population was 30,934 at the 2000 census. A special census commissioned in 2003 put the population at 33,253...
Current units
FIAT's only unstaffed unit is activated like an in-advance mutual aid plan. No officers are assigned until a planned police event requires such. A FIAT-member agency may request a number of officers for a special event within its jurisdiction (such as a protest, a planned event requiring traffic direction at multiple intersections, or the like.) Member agencies are notified ahead of time to assign any officer to the event.Officers currently assigned to FIAT are generally specialized within a single component. Officers have collateral duty, maintaining responsibilities at a home agency until an emergency activation. The staffed units are:
- Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
- Canine Response Group
- Major Case Unit (MCU)
- Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit
FIAT SWAT
- tactical officers,
- crisis negotiators (sometimes improperly called Hostage Barricade Team),
- police/fire dispatcherDispatcherDispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
s, - tactical paramedicParamedicA paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s, - snipers
Training
The SWAT Team trains on a regular basis. The officers assigned to SWAT are called to handle these high-risk incidents, but remain at their local police agencies when not training or handling emergencies.
The SWAT Team also fields a Mobile Training Team (MTT) which provides updated tactical and firearms training to officers of the member agencies.
Organization
The Team holds various ranks similar to a police agency or US military unit. The Team maintains:
- Commander (1)
- Assistant Commander (2)
- Tactical Team Leaders (3)
- Sniper Team Leader (1)
- Tactical Dispatch Team Leader (1)
- Tactical Medic Team Leader (1)
- Crisis Negotiations Team Leader (1)
- various Assistant Team Leaders (7)
- DuPage Co State's Attorney Liaison (1)
- Officers, Medics, and Dispatchers (approx 35)