Crime & Safety

S.W.A.T. Team Practices in Willistown

The old municipal building is being used for training before it's torn down.

Willistown's old municipal building on Sugartown Road has become one large training facility for the West Chester Regional Emergency Response Team.

A green E.R.T. truck was parked outside the building Tuesday evening. The driveways were blocked and a sign read: "Police Training In Progress." 

Also known as a S.W.A.T. team, the E.R.T. consists of officers from many nearby police departments.

"These officers receive special training in weapons and tactics and can be deployed rapidly to emergency situations or critical incidents," Willistown Township Manager David Burman said.

There won't be any live ammunition or flames during the exercises, Burman said.

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The building is set to be torn down and replaced with a new police station, after which time the township's administrative offices will move into the former police building, located on the same campus.

Malvern Fire Company will also use the building for training after the E.R.T. are finished. Chief Neil Vaughn said he didn't expect there to be many doors left intact by the time the firefighters got to it, so they'd practice breaking through walls and opening the roof.

The building will be torn down in late summer or early fall, according to the township.

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