The SWAT team in Mesa, Arizona, is asking the feds for $100,000 in grant money for a pilot project for their SWAT team.

If the project is approved, a new SWAT officer would be outfitted with a Kevlar (bullet resistant) vest, a camera and a two-way radio. Sounds fairly routine, doesn’t it? But I promise you it’s not.

This first-of-its-kind SWAT team member can reach places in a building where no other officer can go. He can unlock doors, perform building searches, locate suicidal victims and hostages, and many other tasks.

In case you haven’t guess by now, this SWAT team member will be a capuchin monkey — the 3-1/2 pound primate that’s second only to the chimpanzee in terms of intelligence.

Capuchin monkeys have already been trained to assist disabled people. The little primates, whose tiny hands have opposable thumbs, serve wheelchair patients with such simple tasks as opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, and even combing the patient’s hair.

Can you envision a monkey coming up on barricaded bank robbers? From the monkey’s two-way radio they hear: "Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up. And no monkey business!"

The Mesa SWAT team believes they can train a monkey to do even more than the tactical robots some SWAT teams now use. Mesa applied for the grant a year ago and is still waiting to hear from the Department of Defense.

One little capuchin monkey costs $15,000. The other $85,000 will be for veterinarian care, food, and the special gear the critter wears on SWAT calls.

Where would the little guy live? At home with his handler, of course, just like K-9 dogs do. You do have to wonder, though, how will the officer’s wife feel about sharing her bed with a monkey. Maybe she should watch a dozen or so Tarzan movies first — just to get used to the idea of "Me Tarzan — you Jane!"