The Mountlake Terrace Police Department is a member agency of The North Sound Metro SWAT Team (NSM). North Sound Metro SWAT is a regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team that is composed of two distinct elements; the SWAT (tactical) team, and the Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT). The team is comprised of officers from the following municipal jurisdictions: Bothell, Edmonds, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo and Redmond. The team services a population base of well over a quarter million residents. Current approved staffing for tactical operators is 36, plus three team commanders. HNT is allotted 13 officers.
The SWAT team is an on-call unit trained to address and resolve the most serious or highly volatile situations. SWAT officers are trained to serve high risk search warrants, arrest violent suspects, successfully resolve hostage situations, and barricaded criminal suspects. Members of the SWAT team are highly trained, highly capable officers who work to resolve the most dangerous of police calls peacefully.
The SWAT team also incorporates highly trained officers as Crisis Negotiators. These officers utilize special training and verbal tactics to "talk" violent persons or persons experiencing behavioral health crises into surrendering to law enforcement.
Over the last five years, North Sound Metro SWAT has responded to an average of seven incidents per year (includes planned search warrants as well as callouts). In addition, SWAT officers spent more than 240 hours per year training to keep their skills sharp and to remain efficient utilizing team tactics.