Sheboygan Police Department
Emergency Response Team

The Sheboygan Police Department's Emergency Response Team, or  E.R.T., consists of fourteen officers. The E.R.T. team responds to a variety of types of calls which may be extremely high risk or require specialized training in the use of certain tools or searching methods.

The E.R.T. responds to very specific types of high risk calls, including:.

Barricaded Subjects
A type of call where a person who has either committed a crime or is to be taken into custody for other reasons has barricaded themselves in their home, refused to allow themselves to be taken into custody, and given some indication they have armed themselves.

Hostage Calls
Any call in which people have been taken hostage.

High Risk Warrant Service
E.R.T. assists investigators in the service of search and arrest warrants where information has been received that the subject of the warrant is armed or is a previous violent offender.

Civil Disturbances
E.R.T. has been trained in various methods of crowd control and will respond to civil disturbances which require disbandment.

The E.R.T. is supervised by the team leader, Lt. Steve Cobb, assisted by the Team Leader, Officer eric Edson and Assistant Team Leader, Piotr Gordziej. The other officers on the team are all full time patrol officers who volunteered and were selected as E.R.T. members as an additional duty assignment.

One of the reasons E.R.T. units, S.W.A.T. units and other specialized tactical response units have developed across the country was the need for officers to be able to deploy a wide variety of special tools and skills to volatile situations so that the police have a greater chance of resolving these situations without a great use of force. Some of the special tools the E.R.T. uses are ballistic shields, noise/flash diversion devices, specialty impact munitions, chemical munitions, night vision equipment, and special tools to force entry into locked buildings.

In addition, each officer on the team is trained as a hostage negotiator. Team members assume responsibility for negotiations during critical incidents.

Three team members have assumed specialty roles on the team. Two members have been trained as marksmen/observers, while another handles the recently retired patrol K-9, trained for ERT deployments.

The E.R.T. is committed to the peaceful resolution of dangerous occurrences. The officers on the team are highly trained professionals who are able to bring a wide variety of skills and tools to play in order to resolve serious incidents without using deadly force. The team has also been active in the community in developing programs to respond to the nation wide increase in school and workplace violence.

The E.R.T. would be happy to provide a demonstration or program to your group. Contact Lt. Steve Cobb at 459-3338 or email at scobb@ci.sheboygan.wi.us.