The Direct Action Response Team (D.A.R.T.) was formed in 1998 at Jail-Central, the agency's major pre-trial detention facility. The team's role is to provide specialized response to safely remove disruptive inmates from their cells. These are inmates for whom Pod officers have exhausted all means of control at their disposal. The team is also a visible deterrent to discourage inmates from pursuing disruptive behavior.

The D.A.R.T. Team may also be called on to conduct a mass shakedown in the jail, escort combative inmates safely from one area to another within a facility and handle major disruptions inside the jail.

The D.A.R.T. Team is composed of highly trained detention officers -- all of whom are volunteers because of the hazardous duties they are called on to perform. Each member must pass a rigorous physical assessment and an oral interview and have sustained no "A" violations in the performance of duty.

There is a nine-member team for each of the four shifts at Jail-Central. A team has eight team members, each with specific responsibilities, under the command of a sergeant. Team members have regular assigned duties. They are called when needed. They wear distinctive black BDUs with D.A.R.T.  in yellow letters on the back.

When called out, team members wear special equipment including helmets with visors, flack jackets, gloves, and knee pads. The team's work is always filmed by a team member with a camcorder for liability reasons. The lead member of the team carries a concave shield..