The Merrillville Police Department is a member agency in the Northwest Regional SWAT team. Seven Merrillville officers help to make up the 25 man unit which includes officers from Crown Point, Schererville, Dyer, Cedar Lake, Griffith and Hobart. Officers selected for SWAT must pass a physical agility test, 90% range qualification, oral interview and the basic SWAT school. The team is on call 365 days a year.

SWAT’s function is to safely resolve critical incidents. They are called upon to handle barricaded gunman, hostage situations, violent felony warrants, and drug search warrants.

Along with the basic SWAT school, team members attend training with other SWAT teams. They have attended schools sponsored by various law enforcement agencies including the FBI, and retired members of the U.S. Army (DELTA), and British SAS.