Special Operations
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Unit manages the Homeland Security issues, the Emergency Services Unit, the Hennepin County Weapons of Mass Destruction Tactical Response Team, the Vulnerability Assessment Team, the Emergency Management Team, and the Special Response Force. Special Operations is a unit within the Enforcement Services Division.
Homeland Security:
The Special Operations Unit provides a centralized unit within the Sheriff’s Office to plan and manage the agency’s response to incidents such as civil disturbance, crowd management during large events, or potential acts of terrorism. Areas of involvement for the unit include special event planning, emergency management, vulnerability assessment, and critical infrastructure protection patrols.
Hennepin County Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Tactical Response Team:
The WMD Team is a multi-agency team made up of tactical officers from the Sheriff’s Office and eleven other local and state law enforcement agencies. This is one of only a few such organizations in the country. It is a local and regional asset that can be deployed during a WMD event.
Emergency Services Unit:
The Emergency Services Unit (ESU) is a county and regional tactical resource. ESU provides a quick and effective tactical response to situations including hostage rescue, barricaded suspects, and high-risk warrant service. The team utilizes special training, tactics, weapons and equipment with the goal of reaching peaceful resolutions to dangerous situations involving the public and its enforcement partners.
| The Homeland Security Unit, in addition to other duties, supervises a multi-agency team trained to respond to weapons of mass destruction incidents should they occur in Hennepin County or anywhere else in Minnesota. |  |