Officer Bryan Lawrence: Setting new goals
Roanoke Times
Roanoke police Officer Bryan Lawrence continues to make strides and stay upbeat as he recovers from the paralyzing injury he suffered in 2008.
Bryan Lawrence has moments when he wishes he could do more.
He couldn’t help his wife, Brenda, when she put up the tree and other Christmas decorations. And when the battery in their van died, he had to talk her through using the jumper cables. Same with his son, Robert, who needed help working on his brakes.
But for everything he still can’t do after last year’s paralyzing injury, the Roanoke police officer is much more independent and mobile than he was a year ago.
“I just thank God,” he said. “Where we came from a year ago to here.”
In May 2008, Lawrence was kicked in the head by one man as he was arresting another. In March, William Steele Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in prison for injuring Lawrence.
The attack left Lawrence with a broken neck and partially paralyzed.
After the attack, Lawrence couldn’t walk and found it difficult to move his arms and hands. He spent months at the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, and came home largely dependent on his motorized wheelchair.
Roanoke firefighters and police officers had renovated the Lawren-ces’ home to accommodate his wheelchair, and installed a lift to take him to and from the second floor. They paid for it using donated items and money.
Brenda Lawrence worked tirelessly every day to help her husband get dressed and eat. She also had to drive him to his doctor and therapy appointments.
“I’m very blessed to have a great wife, and a great family,” Bryan Lawrence said. “I want to get better for them, not just me.”
From the very beginning of his ordeal, Lawrence said he would walk again. He said he would push in the clutch and change gears in his pickup truck. And he said that he would go back to work as a police officer.
In the past year, he’s done all that and more.
Just in the past three weeks, he’s relied solely on his crutches to get around, leaving his wheelchair parked in the garage of his North Roanoke County home.
In June, he began driving a customized van. When he’s having a good day, he like to take a joyride in his Chevy Silverado truck.
“That’s been freedom for him and me,” Brenda Lawrence said. “He’s always been a person who went on his own merry way.”
And in August, Bryan Lawrence went back to work part time at the police department as a crime prevention officer, the job he held before his injury.
One of his physical therapists at Carilion’s Botetourt Athletic Club, Donna Winfield, said Lawrence’s outlook has a lot to do with his progress.
“It’s all about the positive attitude,” she said. “If you don’t have a positive attitude, you’re not going anywhere.”
The Lawrences also credit God. Bryan Lawrence frequently tells people that God is in the healing business.
“But you can’t just sit there and say ‘Heal me,’ ” he said.
Five days a week, Lawrence wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and drives himself to physical therapy at the athletic club.
For 90 minutes — sometimes longer — he does various exercises to strengthen his muscles and work on his balance. He uses the weight machines to build strength in his abdominal and leg muscles. He spends 10 minutes on a cross trainer, and works on his balance. Winfield straps weights to his ankles and helps him up and down two flights of steps and around the indoor track. She uses a stopwatch to encourage him to beat his best times. Sometimes he uses the heated pool.
In the year that he’s been going to physical therapy, he’s gotten to know some of the regulars at the club, who have encouraged him.
“He passed me one day on the track and I asked him if he was showing off,” said Lisa Crawford, who sees Lawrence frequently when she works out in the mornings.
“Everyone who watches his progress is amazed,” she said.
He’s motivated them, too. It’s not uncommon for people to stop him and say that he’s been an inspiration, Winfield said.
It has not all been easy. There have been slips and falls. Lawrence frequently suffers from muscle spasms that can last all day.
The cold weather is a problem, too; it makes his muscles stiff. Even picking up a cold spoon to eat soup shocks his body, he said.
But he doesn’t dwell on these things.
“Bryan’s always been the type to deal with what life deals us,” Brenda Lawrence said. “His attitude helps immensely.”
He frequently makes light of his situation, and his optimism has kept Brenda Lawrence from falling into depression, she said.
The couple never doubted that he would get this far.
“I believe in the Lord, and I believed he would take care of us,” Brenda Lawrence said.
The support of people in the community has also helped, she said.
“Really, what helps a lot, is people coming up and letting us know they care, too,” she said. “You know you’re not in this by yourself.”
With many major hurdles behind him, Lawrence has set new goals.
Some are small tasks, such as picking up his crutches from the floor, or improving his range of motion so he can eat a slice of pizza.
But there are larger goals, too.
Lawrence wants to take a spin (cycling) class at the athletic club.
“I tried to get on the bike other day, and it was a disaster,” he said.
He also wants to swap his crutches for canes, and hopes that by the Fourth of July he’ll be able to walk in the Peachtree Road 5K in Atlanta, a fundraiser for the Shepherd Center.
And he would like to start helping teach officer safety at the police department’s academy, mostly to show officers how to survive a bad experience or injury.
“Sometimes you can’t help,” he said. “Like me, I did everything right. Sometimes things happen.”
By Amanda Codispoti
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RELATED STORY
Police rookies, recruits believe doing job trumps danger
Joe Brown says he will stick to the same daily routine when he becomes a police officer next month.
He will pray with his wife and 1-year-old son, kiss them both and say he loves them. And then he will walk out the door and try not to think about those who have fallen in the line of duty recently.
“We are all warriors in this job, and every day when we are out on the streets, the possibility exists that we might not come home at night,” said Brown, 40, of McKeesport, who spent 21 years in the Marine Corps and was deployed seven times.
On Wednesday, Brown will graduate from the Allegheny County Police Academy. He says he has job offers from McKeesport and Rankin.
“I definitely think about the idea that I could be sitting in my patrol car at a traffic light and, bam, someone might shoot me, and it’s all over. We know more than ever now that it’s a possibility.”
The reminders are grim for rookies and recruits, and all officers: FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks was killed as he opened a door in Indiana Township. Three Pittsburgh officers were cut down responding to a domestic call in Stanton Heights. Four Lakewood, Wash., officers were fatally shot while working on computers in a coffee shop. On Friday, Penn Hills police Officer Michael Crawshaw was buried five days after a gunman sprayed his cruiser with an assault rifle.
“It just reminds me that you cannot take anything for granted,” said county police Officer Brian Perris of Ross, who graduated from the academy this year. “Nothing is routine in this job, and you must keep these incidents in the back of your mind.”
Nationwide, 117 officers were killed this year, compared with 125 at the same time last year. Forty-seven of this year’s deaths were from gunfire, compared with 38 at this time in 2008, said Kevin Morison, spokesman for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
On average, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 53 hours. The killings of five officers in the Pittsburgh area in the past 13 months apparently have not deterred applicants for police jobs, which pay a median annual salary of $40,000 in Pennsylvania.
But the shootings nationwide underscore a deeper problem, one expert said.
“As a society, we’ve got to be asking what the hell is going on here,” said Kenneth Cooper, founder of Tactical Handgun Training of New York Inc. and a 22-year veteran of law enforcement and security training.
“What does that say about a society which has people killing cops all the time? They’re being ambushed and executed,” Cooper said. “If police officers aren’t safe, then no one else is either. And that’s a very dangerous thing.”
Police say Crawshaw, 32, of Penn Hills was killed by a gunman who burst into a home and fatally shot a man who owed $500 from a drug deal. Crawshaw responded to the 911 call and was parked two doors away, awaiting backup.
Visiting the shooting scene last week, District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said officers rely on training and instinct and always must be on guard. But, “when you know there are people out there who are looking to ambush you, that’s hard to guard against. It used to be that police officers were off-limits. Apparently, that isn’t the case anymore,” he said.
When Perris started at the academy in January, he knew he had chosen a dangerous profession. During his six-month training, four officers were gunned down in Oakland, Calif., in March and the three Pittsburgh officers died in April.
Yet Perris said he never doubted his decision to switch from a teaching career to one in law enforcement.
“This is what I want, and I think I can make a difference,” said Perris, 23, who like all cadets in the county academy paid his way through training and had to find a department to hire him.
Sanja Smailbegovic, 23, is nearing the end of her training. She has wanted to be a police officer since she was 10. Knowing that some people would target those in uniform only made her more determined.
“I’m putting my life in danger, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” said Smailbegovic, of Bellevue. “We need people to do this job. I know the badge might make me a target, but I’ve made peace with that.”
The reality of the danger is one that Trooper Stanford Webb, a Pennsylvania State Police recruiter, doesn’t try to soft-peddle to potential cadets. State police Cpl. Joseph R. Pokorny Jr. died four years ago Saturday after a paroled felon took his gun away and shot him during a struggle in Carnegie.
“I don’t paint a rosy, perfect picture,” Webb said. “It’s dangerous, and you might have to take someone’s life or have your life taken. But the world today is dangerous in general.”
Chris Kowalczyk joined the county police in January and is stationed in South Park. He said he tried to treat the police shootings this year as a learning experience.
Seeing officers from across the nation come to Pittsburgh again for a police funeral is tragic, Kowalczyk said, but it shows the tight-knit world of law enforcement.
“These incidents only end up building the bond and deepening the importance of backing each other up,” said Kowalczyk, 27. “We take care of each other.”
By Jill King Greenwood
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Deputy dragged by truck says it’s a miracle he’s alive
It’s Christmas Eve for most and for many, it means getting last-minute presents ready and spending time with family and friends. For Art Peterson, it was just another morning in physical therapy.
Thursday, he was working on his neck and hand; just some of the areas that hurt.
On a cold day like Thursday, Peterson says the pain is ever-present.
“This is the worst it’s ever been for me,” Peterson said. “I’ve been hurt, but nothing like this.”
Peterson has worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for 33 years. He’s done it all: patrol, the jail, investigations.
Last July, he joined the newly-formed Jefferson County Auto Theft Task Force.
A month later, on Aug. 19, Peterson was run over by an accused car thief.
Peterson says he and his partner were tracking a stolen truck for several hours when they saw it in Englewood, off of Santa Fe and Dartmouth.
“The truck was right in front of us,” Peterson said. “The one we’re looking form with no plates on it, being driven by a female. My partner said, ‘They’re stopped in traffic, lets go get them.’”
Peterson says the truck was in one of the turning lanes on Santa Fe. It was blocked by a number of cars.
Peterson’s partner approached the car first from the driver’s side and Peterson approached from the passenger’s side.
“She looked over in my direction and saw me coming and turned to the right where I was and hit the gas of the truck and tried to run me over,” Peterson said.
Peterson grabbed on to the passenger side of the truck with his left hand, his gun in his right. The driver kept going.
“I was yelling at her, ‘Police, stop! Police, stop,’ and she didn’t of course, she accelerated,” Peterson said. “That’s what I thought, ‘I can’t let her get any further than this because then I’m going to die for sure if I fall off at high speed.’ Shots were fired. She ended up hitting a brick wall. It’s probably a good thing or I probably would’ve been killed,” he said.
According to 9NEWS’ partners at The Denver Post, the driver of the stolen truck was 21-year-old Brittany Thurman. She is paralyzed from the stomach down from one of the gunshots and has been charged with four felonies.
Peterson, who’s had his neck broken in two places, multiple broken ribs and a skin graft from a burn, says he hoped to retire never having to shoot anyone. He says he thinks about Thurman every day.
“It does bother me, she’s young, she’s gonna be paralyzed,” Peterson said. “It weighs on you, even though she did run me over. There is not a day go by I don’t think about it. Think about her.”
Rescuers and fellow officers pulled Peterson from under the truck. Since that day in August, he’s been working on getting his life back.
“I think it’s gonna be a Christmas to where you’re grateful you’re here,” he said. “This year, I’m happy to be here. It’s kind of a miracle, I’m alive. I’m not paralyzed in any way, that’s a miracle. From rolling under that truck I thought sure I’d be paralyzed. But I’m not, I’m very lucky.”
Peterson says he plans to get back to work in March and he wants to continue his duties on the Jefferson County Auto Theft Task Force.
Thurman is scheduled to be in court Jan. 26.
By Jeffrey Wolf and A. Bolton
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End of Watch
Photo by Todd Yates Nueces County Sheriff’s Deputy Roland Saenz said that he could feel the bullet strike his watch but that it didn’t hurt. “I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
Deputy Roland Saenz’s 8-year-old wristwatch was called to duty Dec. 17.
Saenz could say his watch would take a bullet for him.
In fact, it did.
“Luckily, I was wearing it,” Saenz said.
Saenz was one of two Nueces County Sheriff’s Deputies working off duty at the American Bank Center parking garage when a man began shooting at them, Corpus Christi police have said.
Saenz and his partner, Eduardo Nunez, were fully uniformed when they responded to a call about 9:35 p.m. of a man trying to open car doors, authorities said.
The man drew a gun and began firing after the deputies approached him, police said. He shot twice at Nunez. Nunez ducked behind a vehicle, Saenz said. The man then shot twice at Saenz.
Saenz said one shot grazed the ammunition pouch on his belt.
The second hit the Fossil watch on his left wrist as he moved to support his right hand to aim his weapon, he said.
The bullet lodged in the watch, and it didn’t survive. What’s left of it is being held as evidence.
The man fled and stumbled, police said, and appeared to be preparing to fire again as David Gonzalez, who was working as a security guard, kicked the gun from his hand.
Police arrested Todd Meine, 43, on suspicion of two counts of attempted capital murder. He also is wanted on a murder warrant in Missouri, authorities have said. Meine remained jailed in Nueces County on Friday.
Saenz said he felt the bullet strike his watch, but it didn’t hurt. “I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
The bullet’s impact left some bruising and a part of the outline of the watch.
Saenz, a three-year sheriff’s deputy, was put on light duty at the sheriff’s department Tuesday as a precaution because he also injured his knee.
Saenz said he doesn’t usually wear the Fossil watch when he’s working, because it was more of a casual piece he would wear when he’s off.
Saenz’s watch had been a part of a his and hers set he and his girlfriend, Joyce Perez, bought about eight years ago.
Perez said she considers it a blessing he was wearing the watch.
“It was just, like, ‘Wow,’” she said. “He just had an angel watching over him.”
A Fossil spokeswoman based in New York City said the company provides quality, durable products.
“Obviously, this falls outside the normal expectations for durability, but we are pleased to hear that the officer involved benefited by having one of our products on his arm,” the watchmaker said in a statement.
Capt. David Alaniz of the sheriff’s department’s patrol division said that both deputies acted professionally and that they did what was expected of them in a potentially deadly situation.
Saenz said that it could have ended differently and that he’s glad he and Nunez are alive.
“We’re still here. We went home. That’s all that counts,” he said.
By Elaine Marsilio
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Officers Rescue Phoenix Girl in ‘Christmas Miracle’
A patrol officer spotted a suspected kidnapper’s car and aided in the rescue of a 5-year-old girl, who was found uninjured in what police are calling Phoenix’s “Christmas miracle.”
Natalie Flores was rescued at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, more than seven hours after she was scooped up by a stranger while playing with her sisters outside their Phoenix apartment building.
“She is alive and well,” police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said.
Hill credited a “very alert” policeman with taking quick action after spotting what appeared to be the suspect’s vehicle driving on a west Phoenix avenue, even though the license plate differed from reports.
Officer Mike Burns pulled alongside and “saw a suspect that matched the description and thought he saw a small child,” Hill told The Associated Press.
He said the pickup sped off, and Burns gave chase and alerted the force. Officers put spike strips across the road several blocks away that punctured the suspect’s tires, causing him to crash on the roadside.
The man took off on foot but was caught and arrested a block away after a brief struggle.
“She is alive and well thanks to the timely diligence of officer Burns,” Hill said. “It is rare in stranger abduction cases so much time can pass without a tragic ending. This was truly a Christmas miracle.”
Police said the suspect is a 45-year-old man, but they haven’t released his name and or any other details.
Hill said the man was being questioned by police and held on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault on a police officer and felony pursuit.
The sergeant said Natalie appeared to be in good shape but was being examined by health officials.
Police received the call that Natalie had been taken at about 2:15 p.m. An Amber Alert was issued, and authorities began combing the area on foot, by car and with helicopters.
Hill said the child had been playing in a common area at the apartment complex with her two sisters, ages 7 and 9, when a man parked his brown pickup in a nearby parking lot and walked over to them carrying a camera.
“He physically grabbed the 7-year-old girl and forcibly took a photo of her,” Hill said.
The man then forced Natalie into the truck and drove away. Witnesses reported that as the man was fleeing, he hit a parked car before entering southbound 19th Avenue.
Natalie and her sisters had been staying at an apartment in the complex with an aunt who has legal custody of them, Hill said. The girls’ parents live separately out of state.
After the abduction, Natalie’s older sister went to a neighbor’s apartment and pounded on the door, The Arizona Republic reported. The woman who answered, Donna Reed, said the girl was carrying a ball and appeared to be shaking.
“She said some man just took her little sister,” Reed told the newspaper. “She was a nervous wreck.”
Reed called 911.
By Bob Seavey
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Community Shows Outpouring Of Support For Hospitalized Deputy
Family and friends of a Pierce County deputy shot while responding to a domestic violence incident spent Christmas with him at Harborview in Seattle, as members of the community took time from their own holiday to visit the hospital.
Deputy Kent Mundell was shot several times and has been on life support since he arrived at the hospital. He remains in critical condition and his prospects for recovery are slim.
All week police officers, family members and total strangers have been stopping by to show support.
William Nelson was one of many visitors to Harborview who has no connection to the deputy or law enforcement, yet is disturbed by the recent series of police shootings.”It’s a problem we’ve been having. It seems like it keeps happening over and over,” said Nelson.
Myrtlel Fraser’s husband is in the room right next to Mundell’s. “I’m feeling for them in their sadness,” she said.
Gino Reyes, who played Santa Claus at Harborview, said he hoped he could visit the officer and his family on Christmas. “It’s very sad. Hopefully I’ll be able to see him,” said Reyes.
There’s been an outpouring of support for Mundell, not only at the hospital, but over the airwaves.
A message over the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office radio frequency late Christmas Eve said: “Local cars, from our hearts to yours, we wish you a merry Christmas. And for 65 and 423, who we know are listening because you always do, you are not alone in this fight. You have the support and prayers of the entire county and every law enforcement officer who defends the thin blue line along with you. Stay strong and heal fast, for it’s just not the same without you.”
The second officer who was shot during Monday night’s domestic dispute, Sergeant Nick Hausner, left Madigan Army Medical Center Thursday and was escorted in a police motorcade directly to Harborview to visit Mundell.
Hausner was shot in the neck, the bullet narrowly missing his arteries and spinal cord.
He is recovering at his home in Eatonville.
The Pierce County Sherif’f’s Department said the shooter’s 16-year-old daughter may have saved Hausner’s life during the barrage of gunfire.
Police said the girl saw her father exchange gunfire with the deputies, then knocked her father down, keeping him from shooting Hausner again.
The teen and her uncle then pulled Hausner into another room, where they started first aid on the officer.
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Sheriff’s Office staff brightens the holidays for the most vulnerable – of all ages
Green has traditionally been a Christmastime color. And, the men and women who serve at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) helped further establish the connection between green (the color of their uniforms) and this Holiday season.
How? By throwing parties for two adopted groups – one old, and one young.
Holiday in Menlo Park
On December 16, MCSO staff and deputies converged on Menlo Park Health Care, an adult skilled nursing care facility on NE 122nd Avenue.
“This is important because many of residents here don’t have any families,” noted Becky Bilyeu, Menlo Park’s activity director. “This year, they’re getting a real Christmas; everyone one here is getting something for Christmas this year, thanks to the Sheriff’s Office.”
Rhoda English, organizer of the event for MCSO said they decided to “adopt” Menlo Park patients after Bilyen contacted her. “This is a gift from the Sheriff’s Office management, employees, and volunteers. In addition to deputies, other employees, including records technicians, volunteers, property room personnel, management – all of them contributed.”
After getting a “wish list” from residents, English said MCSO staffers went to work, filling detailed requests.
“Really, the residents weren’t asking for much – mostly simple, personal items,” English told us. “These are things that are easy for us to get, like clothing, Q-tips, tissue, and other personal supplies. And, the gift stockings are beautiful – many of them are gorgeous works of art; all handmade by some of our volunteers.”
English called herself “Just an ordinary employee of MCSO for 20 years.” But, as resident, Joy Benz said, “This means a wonderful Christmas for us all, I’m so happy. This is a very kind thing they’ve done for us.”
“This makes all of us feel so good to be able to give something back, especially to our senior citizens,” English responded.
Sheriff’s Office hosts Transition School party at Inverness Jail
Two days later, on December 18, MCSO volunteers hosted another party – complete with lunch and gifts, this time for young people.
“Here at the Inverness Jail, we have the room to host the 21st Annual Community Transitional School holiday party,” Lieutenant Mary Lindstrand, MCSO’s Public Information Officer told us.
“In addition to the gifts, these kids will be treated to entertainment, and a personal visit with Santa,” Lindstrand reported. “These 85 children are from foster homes, or are homeless – they are kids who don’t have a real home. So, we’re giving them a Christmas party in our ‘home’.”
The large room was brightly decorated in a Christmas theme. “We also involve the inmates; they help us decorate the room before the children come,” Lindstrand pointed out. “It gives them the chance to give to back to the community during the Holiday season. The female inmates who helped us with this were very happy, and said they enjoyed being able to participate. And, they did a wonderful job decorating this room!”
The most important gift: JOY
Asked why MCSO workers put so much time and effort into the event, Lindstrand answered immediately: “These kids did not make their situation, whether their parents are homeless – or may actually be in jail. We want to make sure these young people have a Christmas.”
Lindstrand introduced us to Liz Daily, a program supervisor for the security unit at the Sheriff’s Office – one of the many volunteers at the event. “One year, a child requested a set of bed sheets for Christmas. Everybody wondered why he wanted bed sheets. He told us that, because he was moved from house to house – sometimes nightly – he just wanted to have his own bedding.”
Daily pointed out that each child gets four gifts: Two clothing items, and two toys. “While Transition School helps these youngsters get two good meals a day, as well as an education in an accepting environment, many of them would not have a Christmas at all if it were not for this.”
“There are no words that can actually describe the joy I feel,” Lindstrand added, “when you look at the kids faces, here the party, having fun – and opening their presents. It gives them a chance to share in the joy of the Holiday.”
Cost to taxpayers: $0.00
The event is entirely funded by donations by MCSO staff members, retirees, volunteers and their families, Lindstrand said. “Staff members and volunteers buy and wrap all the gifts. The food is donated as well; and we again thank Izzy’s Pizza, who will be bringing in pizza for the event.”
Juggler and entertainer extraordinaire Rhys Thomas was standing by to entertain the kids who were being greeted by the Portland Trail Blazers’ mascot, Blaze. “It’s hard not to feel a tug on your heartstrings when you see some of the same kids here, sometimes a couple of years in a row. But, these kids are stunningly resilient. Here, at this special time, we make it possible for them to just be kids.”
Sworn to go “green”
After the deputies led singing Christmas carols, Multnomah County Sheriff Daniel Staton stepped up and greeted the group. “I was thinking but giving a big speech. But, as I sat down at a table and met some of these great kids, I asked them to step up front with me instead. I do want to tell you how happy I am to be here. We are really proud to be here with you, wishing you a Merry Christmas.”
Sheriff Staton asked everyone to stand in preparation for being sworn in as Honorary Deputies.
“Raise your right hand,” Staton began.
“I, state your name,” and as if on cue, everyone in the room repeated the words “State your Name” – which got a hearty, if unintentional laugh!
“I promise to be respectful of all people. This includes my parents, and teachers. To be responsible and safe, be honest, and good to everyone. To be creative, and imaginative. To do my homework, to have fun and laugh a lot. To be the best kid I can be. And, to make my favorite color green!
“I, Sheriff Daniel Staton of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s office, hereby bestow on each of you the title of honorary deputy sheriff.”
“Although the jail doesn’t have a chimney,” Lindstrand noted, “Santa has been granted access to the building. This is an event, and an opportunity, to give much needed love and support to these kids, and a boost toward breaking the cycle of poverty and homelessness that is their norm. We all feel it’s a wonderful way to get into the Holiday spirit.”
By David F. Ashton
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Accomack sheriff’s toy drive a success
Christmas was a little merrier for more than 80 children this year, thanks to the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office.
Employees and community members donated nearly 400 toys, including several bicycles, in the weeks leading up to Christmas to the sheriff’s inaugural Christmas toy drive.
Sheriff’s office staffers distributed the toys early last Friday, just before a major storm was due to hit and in time for the gifts to appear under the trees of 36 needy Accomack County families on Christmas morning.
The toy distribution took about an hour.
“We took what we had and we sent cars in different directions,” Sheriff Larry Giddens said.
Administrative assistant Lisa Ashby coordinated the program.
“This is the first year we’ve done it, but the idea is something that has been on my mind for years,” Giddens said, crediting the Chincoteague Police Department, which operates a similar program, with sparking the idea to collect toys for needy children in the communities served by the Sheriff’s Office. “This was a way of giving back,” he said.
“We got great support from staff as well as the community to make this possible … It was overwhelming,” Giddens said, adding, “I told the staff that thanks to their help, there will be a lot of smiles on a lot of children’s faces Christmas morning.”
Giddens said the office hopes to make the toy drive an annual event and plans to expand the program next year.
By Carol Vaughn
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SWAT team takes second place in international contest
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office sharpshooters were on target in a recent competition, taking second place in an international field that included some full-time SWAT teams.
The second-place finish was the best ASO placing in the SWAT Round-up International competition in Orlando, which this year drew teams from Germany, Sweden, Dubai and Hungary in addition to departments throughout Florida and the U.S.
But more than that, the competition, which took place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, creates a better SWAT squad, sheriff’s officials said.
“The greatest asset to this competition is the training that goes into getting prepared for it – that and the competition itself. You do so many different tasks, and it makes you such a well-rounded member of SWAT,” said Sgt. Shawn Brooks, ASO’s SWAT training coordinator.
“The level of stress and pressure on each team member is incredible. The stress I feel competing is greater than on any SWAT operation that I have ever been on,” Brooks said.
SWAT, which stands for special weapons and tactics, is a unit within many law enforcement agencies that might be used during hostage situations, certain drug busts, cases in which a suspect is barricaded and others that require elite skills and weaponry.
At some agencies, SWAT is a full-time duty for the members. At ASO, SWAT members are regular deputies who are called to SWAT duty when needed.
A set of criteria must be met for the SWAT team to be called out. Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Maynard, also a SWAT member, said the squad is typically used 25 to 30 times a year.
The ASO squad has 25 members – though not all are deputies. Included are a doctor who volunteers his time and intelligence officers. Eight were selected to complete in the four-day, five-event competition. Most of the pre-competition training is done off-duty.
SWAT Round-up is held by the Florida SWAT Association with the National Tactical Officers Association every year. This year, 52 teams competed in events, which feature running, climbing over obstacles, crawling and shooting.
The running, climbing and crawling make the shooting more difficult because they increase the heart rate and breathing of the competitor.
“With the targets themselves, you have to be a really good shot because they are so small and at a distance. But when you combine the physical activity beforehand … it makes it extremely difficult,” Brooks said.
Maynard added that training courses are held in conjunction with the competition and bring in top experts.
Maynard added that the senior leadership on the team evaluates the performance and generally finds that their skills and physical fitness improve from the training and competition.
“They will be the most tactically sound, and that is a phenomenal benefit,” Maynard said. “Everybody else just tries to play catchup.”
The overall winner was the Lakeland Police Department. ASO was one point behind, while the third-place team, an emergency rescue team from NASA, was 11 points behind.
By Cindy Swirko
