FAQ

Alex Montel, the French criminal was originally pulled over by the police because his left taillight was out, a tickitable traffic violation. While the police were running the plates, the car was shown registered to his uncle. An arrest warrant was issued for the uncle and while Alex only had a foreign passport, the cops decided to detain him until they could verify his identity. That is why he was arrested originally, the charges were amended when his picture and prints returned a match in the Interpol database.

The film corresponds very well with how the S.W.A.T. would really act, because of a ex-member of the S.W.A.T. who was on set to give advice. He gave the actors tips on how they should move, react and be positioned as well as teaching them all of the hand signals and drills. Due to the coaching by the real-life SWAT cop, there are very few scenes where the characters don't act how they would in real life except for where it is necessary for the storyline.

Molly is the name of the advanced ramming device that Street supports the use of. It is chained to a back of a truck and a spiked-end is fired into the wall of a barricaded building. Rods then spring out "like fishhooks" and when the truck drives away with the spike in place, the whole wall is pulled down. This is the device used to break down the wall of the crazed guy who locked himself in his house. It is also called "The Key to the City".

The cameraman who was filming in the first scene, was a cameraman for a local news channel who was providing a live feed to that channel. He manages to get a shot of Gamble aiming at the terrorist with the hostage. A terrorist saw this on the TV and says to kill the hostage on live television. Just before the hostage is killed, Gamble shoots but intentionally shoots the hostage in the arm, which causes the terrorist to drop her. If it wasn't for the cameraman, most of the events in the movie may not have occurred.

The rifle Hondo gives to Street in the gun cage to tune up is an M-4 carbine. Later, during the prisoner transport mission, Hondo and Sanchez are both seen carrying MP-5 submachineguns, probably because smaller guns are used for more close quarters missions, IE, jobs where the SWAT members will be traveling in cars or tunnels where longer weapons don't allow for the maneuverability a SWAT cop would need. Imagine Hondo trying to swing his M-4 around inside a car or in a narrow tunnel -- the length of the weapon would make this much harder and increase his reaction time.