History of the Nashua Police Department SWAT Team

In October, 1971, Nashua Police Chief Armand Roussel responded to a hostage crisis incident. Chief Roussel negotiated the release of a 12-year old hostage. During the incident, Chief Roussel was shot in the chest and later succumbed to his injuries.

Due to Chief Roussel's tragic death, the Nashua Police Department studied the 1971 incident and, in 1974, authorized the formation of the Special Reaction Team (SRT), now known as SWAT.

The photo above was taken in 1993 of the SRT. Throughout the years, SRT grew is size, experience, and capabilities. 

In 2002, SRT created the Tactical Marksman Oberver (TMO) Unit to provide over-watch and additionally advantages with containing high-risk situations.  

The first armored vehicle 'Bearcat' was issued to the Nashua Police Department in 2003, providing the SRT with armor protection.  

The City of Nashua continued to support SRT, and found SRT invaluable. The SRT grew to a 20 plus member unit as seen above, which it's still today.

In 2015, the department determined to change the name to SWAT as it was commonly known by the public throughout the country.

As the SWAT Team continued to grow in expertise; additional specialty equipment and support was implemented, such as medical personnel, breaching equipment, robots, drones, and much more.