All candidates must have at least four years of experience in the Rapid City Police Department or Pennington County Sheriff's Office before they are eligible to be a team member. Special Response Team commander Jay Evenson said he usually sends out a letter announcing that there are openings on the team. There is an average of one or two openings a year, he said, and about 8 to 10 applicants.

Interested applicants must send in a letter that includes a recommendation attached by their supervisor.

The next step is a series of tests to evaluate the candidates' physical and mental abilities. A physical obstacle course is the first on the list, Evenson said.

The course starts at the bottom of the Pennington County Jail parking ramp. Candidates must run to the top, pick up a 180 pound dummy, drag it about 60 feet and drop it, then pull up a backpack laying at the bottom of the ramp by using a rope.

Then, the candidate must run down the ramp, climbing over a 3-foot wall at each level. Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp, the candidate must low crawl for 25 yards, run to the courthouse, run up the courthouse stairs and back down then go around the courthouse to a spot between the two buildings with a platform. Then, the candidate must jump the platform, come down a flight of stairs, scale a 6-foot wall and run back to the starting point.

"It's physically demanding," Evenson said. "It really is. But each one of those obstacles represents something that, in the real world, they'll probably face."

Candidates then are taken to the firing range, where they must run for about five minutes then run into the firing range, put a gun together and shoot their target in a set amount of time. Evenson said that test determines the candidate's ability to be able to calmly aim their guns after strenuous exercise.

Prospective team members are then interviewed by the command staff and ranked by the entire team. A final ranking is drawn from that process, which determines who is selected.

Evenson said the team looks for individuals who are good team players that strive for greatness and are highly motivated and dedicated.

"There's a lot of extra time involved in this, so if a person says, 'Well I'm just a Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 guy. I'm not going to come in and do extra stuff,' we don't need them on the team."

Once a candidate is approved to make the team, they are assigned to one of three different positions, depending on what their skills best suit them for.