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With this durable, lightweight tool you can efficiently break a window with one hand and hold a shield with the other.
The vehicle assault is an often taught but seldom executed tactic in SWAT operations. Because it occurs so infrequently, officers tend to overlook a major component in the success of the mission: defeating the vehicle glass. This is important to allow a clear and unobscured view inside the compartment of the vehicle so the problem can be resolved with no loss of life to the hostage(s) and operators, and can be a challenge for many reasons. Fortunately, the Hammerspike makes breaking structure and vehicle glass much easier, whether for SWAT during an operation or for a first responder to rescue a trapped motorist.

In this video, an operator demonstrates how to retain control of the shield while accelerating the breaking tip through the window. The video was submitted by Shieldspike.

By Richard Nance
Photos by Alfredo Rico
Purpose-designed glass-breaching tools from ShieldSpike enhance operator safety.

Sure, a baseball bat, baton or halogen tool might work, but not nearly as efficiently as the purpose-designed HammerSpike.

A few months ago, I helped organize a joint training session with a nearby agency’s SWAT team. A good portion of the day was devoted to vehicle assaults, which, like most things in the SWAT realm, are relatively simple in theory but can be quite complex in application.