The Gainesville Police Department SWAT team deactivated last week after four members resigned.
The SWAT team members included a commander and two team leaders, said GPD spokesperson Capt. Jorge Campos.
SWAT teams respond to critical incidents that require special training in weapons, Campos said. Any responses or calls for a SWAT team will be referred to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
“The level of the service for citizens will not change,” Campos said
On Nov. 19, GPD Chief Tony Jones asked for the Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team to handle calls for high-risk search warrants or critical incidents until Jan. 7, according to letters obtained by CBS4 Gainesville.
The four officers are still part of the agency and will continue to perform their duties as officers, Campos said.
The officers submitted resignation letters citing personal reasons, but they did not specify why they were leaving, Campos said. The agency hopes to reactivate the team by January.
The resignations come after the local police union sent a letter to the city manager and the police department disapproving of how the department handled a Nov. 4 concert at Heart of the City Hookah Lounge where a person was shot.
Police union spokesperson Matt Goeckel said the union supports the officers’ decisions to resign. He said some officers are afraid the administration may not support them during a critical situation.
“If a group of people feel a certain way, it would be a mistake for the administration to overlook and minimize it,” Goeckel said. “If you wanted to get the pulse of the department, this is an indicator.”
Campos, who has been with the agency for 26 years, said he’s not worried about the resignations.
“We fully support our team, and we’re 100 percent committed to getting our team up and running and getting the resources that they need,” he said.
Contact Alyssa Ramos at aramos@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @LysKRamos
Correction: This article was updated to reflect the shooting was Nov. 4. The Alligator previously reported otherwise.
Nov. 4
Jonathan Smith, a 46-year-old event coordinator also known as Jock Smooth, is accused of shooting someone in the chest at the Heart of the City Hookah Lounge, at 1221 E. University Ave., during a Boosie Badazz concert, according to a Gainesville Police press release. Smith got away before police could arrest him.
Officers, including Chief Tony Jones, were monitoring the concert at the time of the shooting. Concert attendees helped police make sure no one else was hurt, Jones said in the release.
Nov. 5
The shooting victim was identified as Andy Maharaj, GPD spokesperson Jorge Campos wrote in an email. Maharaj survived his injuries.
Nov. 8
The Gainesville Fraternal Order of Police, the local police union, sent a letter to the city manager and the police department disapproving of how the department handled the Boosie Badazz concert.
Michael Maresca, the union president, said the department ignored safety concerns leading up to and during the rap concert, according to theletter.
Matt Goeckel, the union spokesperson, said the event ended later than it should have and led to hundreds of noise complaints.
Alcohol was served during the concert even though the venue didn’t have a permit to sell alcohol and the concert was understaffed, Goeckel said.
Campos said the letter was inflammatory.
Nov. 19
Jones sent a letter to Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell about having to dissolve the GPD SWAT team after “some recent departures of senior SWAT leadership.”
Gainesville Police Department currently has 22 vacancies for officers as contract negotiations for officers on the force are underway. The city and police union are meeting today, and salaries and benefits are on the table.
