The law enforcement agency you've probably never heard of

By Shannon McFarland

Published: Monday, April 29, 2013 at 5:43 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, April 29, 2013 at 5:43 p.m.

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Although their own investigations may remain hidden for long periods, they are often called to assist other agencies in high-risk situations, from Sarasota or Tampa to Jacksonville or even the Caribbean. They have assisted with security for events such as the Super Bowl or the Republican National Convention in Tampa. These agents are called as rapid response teams for national or even international emergencies, like New Orleans after Katrina. A few recall being flow into Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, protecting groups of orphaned children.

Every scenario is different, the agents say, and in emergencies they may have no warning or time to prepare beyond their training and experience.

“We have to be experts in a vast array of sophisticated weapons,” Power said at a large training facility in an unincorporated area of Lithia near Alafia River State Park.

Several of these agents helped in a four-day manhunt to arrest a Tampa man who was recently sentenced to life in prison. Dontae Morris, 27, was found guilty of killing one person and is accused of killing four other men, including two Tampa police officers, over two months in 2010.

The special agents practice a variety of situations, including hostage and rescue operations. In one, “officer down,” they roll up in a giant armored vehicle donated by the Marines, climbing from the truck in a carefully armored group of four. As a group, two shooters flanking an agent with a shield in front and a paramedic behind them, they move toward a “wounded” officer. Another agent shoots paintballs at them from the cover of a building, as they retrieve the limp man, walking backward and dragging him as their shield is splattered with yellow paint.

It is a drill all-too similar to real-life encounters without paintball guns. Wearing about 70 pounds of gear, each of them carries a personal first-aid kit, with a tourniquet, in case they are injured, trapped and forced to treat themselves until help arrives.

Power and his team were in St. Petersburg in 2011, during a seven-hour standoff with a gunman who killed two officers from an attic. Law enforcement tore down most of the house to reach the shooter and officers.