FBI’s SWAT team to get its first Black female agent

An agent of the United States‘ Federal Bureau of Investigation is believed to be the first-ever Black woman to be inducted to train for the SWAT team of the organisation, according to US media reports.

The federal agent, who has been identified as Tai, is scheduled to be a part of the SWAT team’s training programme called NOTS, short for New Operator Training School. The training will last for nearly 10 weeks and will prepare those who are a part of it for the various field operations conducted by the SWAT team.

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According to a press release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tai will have to clear the NOTS training programme. In case the agent successfully finishes the training, she will be given a probationary position in the San Juan division of the SWAT team.

Further training will be given to Tai for a period of six to 18 months before she receives an official certification to join the force.

The course is aimed at improving an agent’s firearm skills, body movement and critical thinking during stressful situations, according to reports from CNN.

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While realising that being the first Black woman to become a part of the bureau’s SWAT team would be a big deal, Tai said that her main focus would be to clear the training programme.

“I am one of those people where I have a task at hand and I just focus on that task. I do not really think about people looking at me”, she said in a statement.

She added, “Hopefully somebody will see that I was able to do it. I am not the biggest person. I’m not as strong as some of these guys. But as long as you have perseverance — because it does get really tough — you push through it and keep going”, according to reports from CNN.