Continuity mistake: In the scene where the guys are betting that Jim Street can beat TJ in shooting practice, TJ takes off his glasses and talks to Hondo; in the next shot they're back on his face and he takes them off again.
Continuity mistake: When the bad guy gets on the bus to retrieve Montel, he takes the keys from the dead guard, in the next shot he takes the keys again. (01:04:40)
Revealing mistake: In the playing card target shooting sequence, Colin Farrell shoots an ace from the front but the card explodes from the rear. A squib was used to make the hole in the card, blowing the pieces outward instead of inward.
Factual error: In the scene where the Learjet takes off the jet starts to roll. Then there is the shooting with the SWAT team, towards the end of the shooting the pilot pushes the power levers forward to accelerate. Regarding the short take off run they had on the bridge, the pilot would have stayed on the brakes until the engines were at full thrust, then released the brakes, started rolling and wouldn't touch the power levers until after liftoff or in emergency.
Revealing mistake: When the S.W.A.T. Team is going after TJ and the ex SWAT member in the subway station, they say they are at the 7th/Metro Station. If you look on the wall after the subway moves, the signage says Wilshire/Normandie.
Continuity mistake: When Street and Sanchez are at the bar they sit down and you see Sanchez taking her jacket off. Camera angle changes and she is seen taking off her jacket again. (00:52:50)
Factual error: In the bus escape scene, when the fake police man enters the bus and shoots the busdriver in the head, the bullet makes a hole in the window but there is no blood. If a bullet exits the head so close to the glass you would see something on the glass.
Continuity mistake: During the bus scene TJ stops Montel from getting away by crashing the beige car into the cop car that Montel tried driving away in. When he does this the beige car drives into the intersection crashing into a blue car. Then the angle changes and shows the beige car undamaged but the blue car was damaged.
Continuity mistake: When Montel is in the restaurant with his uncle, he lays the knife on the table on its side with the blade facing him. In the next shot, without anyone touching the knife, the blade edge is facing up pointed at the uncle. (00:34:25)
Continuity mistake: After the scene were the helicopter is shot down by the sniper we see a large piece of the helicopter (possibly a piece of the rotor) dislodge and get stuck in the side of an air vent. Then shot changes to show the copter crash into the street below. When the shot changes back to show the S.W.A.T members getting up there is a clear shot of the air vent with no piece of metal sticking out of it. (01:12:05)
Continuity mistake: During the sequence when the Mexican gang is trying to take down the police escort that has Montel; right before the first 18-wheeler hits the first two police cars, there is no one in the left car but there is when they are hit.
Continuity mistake: During the verbal fight between Gamble and Street after the bank incident, Gamble grabs Street and slams his head into the mirror and you see glass in Street's hair from the reflection, but when the camera changes to a view of the back of Street's head, you see no glass. (00:12:55)
Continuity mistake: During the escape attempt from the bus, one of the bad guys is seen standing in front of the fake police car waving off real police cars pulling up to the scene. The camera angle changes and you now see the same bad guy leaning up against the police car not doing anything.
Other mistake: In the scene where LL catches up to the suspect running from him, it is obvious that LL never really puts the handcuffs on the suspect. You can hear the noise but he is not being cuffed.
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Sam Jackson and Colin Farrell are stopped from escaping the subway tunnel at a locked gate, they get the idea to blow the lock with explosives but there is a visible, unexplained string extending from the lock as it is used to create the effect of the lock being blown off.
Visible crew/equipment: When Colin Farrell and Sam Jackson pull up in the street and hear LL Cool J's message about the escaping suspect, the whole camera crew can be seen reflected in the car's door.
Continuity mistake: When the jet is landing on the bridge, the flaps alternate from being fully extended to being fully up. Most noticeably shortly before they stop, the flaps are being retracted in less than a second, which too small a time. (01:34:50)
Visible crew/equipment: In the locker room confrontation scene between Jeremy Renner and Colin Farrell, the microphone can be seen reflected in the mirror just behond Colin's ear.
Visible crew/equipment: When the SWAT team members back away from the bank after dropping off the secure phone, the camera's shadow is seen on the shield that one of the team is using.
Revealing mistake: When the team is chasing Gamble (and company) from the police truck (that they freed Montel from), through the subway, and then through the sewer, Sanchez's watch changes from the left hand to the right hand and back again. (01:22:50 - 01:25:15)
Answer: The SWAT Captain originally kicked Street and Gamble off the team and out of the SWAT Division completely for disobeying orders resulting in a hostage being shot. The SWAT Lieutenant convinced the Captain to keep the two officers in the division on a probationary basis to work back towards getting back on the team. Gamble was insulted by the probationary assignment and later resigned. The Captain offered Street the chance for immediate reinstatement to the team if he placed all blame on Gamble. When Street chose the probationary assignment over blaming Gamble or resigning alongside Gamble, everyone assumed Street cut some type of deal to remain in the SWAT Division without knowing the whole story.