By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer

Although you’ll never hear it from him himself, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Kevin McGinley sets the standard when it comes to SWAT operations.

Outside the agency, he’s shown it off in competition, as he took first place — for the seventh time — out of a field of 42 law enforcement officers from across the globe in the SWAT Round-Up International Super SWAT Cop event on Dec. 6 in Orange County.

The event, which is part of a week-long series of team and individual competitions, included a two-mile run with obstacles and involved shooting various firearms at targets.

McGinley, who has worked in the department for 17 years, most spent with the SWAT unit, is its head of training and physical assessment. His effective leadership of SWAT earns him accolades from within the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bob Hansell, who once commanded the SWAT unit himself, said.

“Kevin will always deflect the attention, but he’s a great example of leadership, not to the SWAT crew but for the entire agency,” he said. “His drive and determination are second to none. But beyond that, he’s just a great person; it’s easy to say great things about Kevin McGinley.”

Like Hansell said, McGinley, a native of Wilmington, Del., turns that attention right back on his unit and the department.

“SWAT Round-Up is an opportunity afforded us by administration, and we thank them for that,” McGinley, who oversees the training for SWAT’s 28-member unit, said.

SWAT Round-Up International is an international showcase for special operations teams from across the United States and Europe. The event combines education and training seminars, head-to-head competition and a trade show.

Winners receive new weaponry to bring back to their departments; for his victory this year, McGinley won a new patrol rifle.

Yet, while he relishes the competition, which keeps him fit and sharp, he said the participation in Round-Up is as much for attending training classes in which special operations units from across the country, Europe and Japan make presentations.

“We get to see how units in the rest of the world do things,” McGinley said. “We take what they can offer and see if it makes us better.”

In a show of the effectiveness of his squad, he noted that the whole team passed an essential written test, something that only 30 percent of SWAT members do on an individual basis.

“The whole community supports us,” he said. “When we go out on a call, I know I have a great group around me. It makes my job easy, hanging with 28 of the best.”