SWAT units may also employ ARVs ( Armored Rescue Vehicle ) for insertion , maneuvering , or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians , officers , firefighters , and/or military personnel pinned down by gunfire . Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or fast-roping . To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments , SWAT units may also use modified buses , vans , trucks , or other seemingly normal vehicles . During the 1997 North Hollywood shootout , LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck , which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging firefight with the heavily armed bank robbers
North Hollywood shootout
North Hollywood shootout
SWAT vehicle