SWAT Calls: The Cost Of Keeping You Safe
When they speak, criminals listen, especially when the voice is booming from a loud speaker, “Yakima Police Department. You are surrounded.”
SWAT Sgt. Chad Stephens
“Obviously you don’t need a SWAT team at every call you go to, but when you do need one there’s really nothing what can replace it,” says SWAT Sgt. Chad Stephens.
Which leaves the obvious question: how do you decide in a given situation when the SWAT team is going to be deployed?
“Well, it’s based on the the amount of danger and risk to an officer and civilians that are dealing with the situation and are involved in it at the time,” Stephens explains.
That doesn’t just mean gang-bangers and drug dealers. SWAT was on the scene in December for robbery suspects. And just last week, a SWAT call for an illegal immigrant holed up in a home. Clearly not every call involves violent criminals.
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2010 U.S. National SWAT Championships
The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office took first place among 18 “On-Call” teams last week at the 2010 U.S. National SWAT Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
An On-Call team is made up of officers with separate primary jobs within their law-enforcement agencies who come together as a tactical team only as the need arises. At the conclusion of the three-day event, the Sheriff’s Office team was in fourth place overall. The win in that category netted the team a championship trophy. The seven members from the Sheriff’s Office finished among much bigger departments, including the San Antonio SWAT Team, the Zurich (Switzerland) Police Department and the Dallas SWAT Team.
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Deputies On Mend After Shooting
Yay! Get well soon, guys!
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The conditions of two deputies wounded Friday in a gun battle has improved significantly at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Sunday.
The condition of Deputy Paul Fairbanks III, who was originally listed in critical condition, has improved to serious, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The deputies were wounded during what began as a routine stop of Matthew Tutt, 21, early Friday. Tutt pulled a handgun and shot Fairbanks and Deputy Mike Braswell, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Tutt was killed in the shootout.
Fairbanks, 58, suffered wounds to his stomach, left elbow and wrist. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest.
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Technology has changed, but Salt Lake police still serve and protect
To serve and protect — Utah’s police officers and sheriffs have done just that over the years and the Deseret News has chronicled much of the history of local law enforcement through photographs.
From when a “Police Patrol” traveled by horse and wagon through the streets of Salt Lake City to the addition of air travel by helicopter through the skies of Utah, police have been aided by inventions.
A News photograph by Howard C. Moore, in 1959, heralds when the Salt Lake Police Department began an official “canine corps.” And, yes, German shepherds were the dog of choice then, too, by law enforcement.
A Feb. 7, 1962, photograph in the Deseret News, of Salt Lake police officers Blain Clark and Frank Hanchett in their patrol car, conjures up images of “Car 54, Where Are You?” for those old enough to have grown up with that show. “Car 54″ was an NBC-TV show that aired from 1961-63.
In that same era, on March 22, 1961, another photograph of Salt Lake Police Chief L.C. Crowther highlights the premiere of the first two mobile crime labs to assist law enforcement efforts.
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Officer Shares The Lighter Side of The Law
If you’ve never heard about the lighter side of law enforcement, you should talk to Kevin Felton, a Cleveland police officer for more than 25 years.
Felton said officers never know from day to day what they’re going to encounter — from the tragic to the ridiculous — but having a sense of humor is actually therapeutic in their service to the public.
“Looking at the lighter side is a stress reliever,” said Felton. “We see so much bad that humor is a coping mechanism. There are times when I actually have to turn away on the scene because of some of the comical things said by individuals, law enforcement officers or emergency service workers. We encounter a lot of funny things.”
According to Felton, officers, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency service workers will share their funny anecdotes and he is collecting several experiences for posterity in a personal journal for his 12-year-old daughter, Jennifer.
“Some of these I’ve witnessed and some were relayed to me,” said Felton who worked over the years as a patrol officer, a D.A.R.E. instructor, an investigator in the special investigative unit with vice crimes, a detective and currently as a School Resource Officer for the Cleveland City Police.
“Of course, some names have been changed to protect the identity of others but they’ll sound familiar to the people involved,” he said.
One incident Felton recalls involved a former high school football player turned officer named “Flash.”
“Officer Flash had been working with our department for about six weeks and was working on a report in a small area we had at our old station,” said Felton. The area was near the front door of the station and was accessed by a long hallway that ran the length of the building.
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Boston’s first black officer receives his long-overdue honors
Just as the bagpipes began, the drill sergeant shouted, “Ten-hut!’’
Thirty-seven rows, four police officers in each, stood at attention. It was their day off, a sunny Saturday morning, but they were up and in uniform to pay respects to a fellow officer, whom, until recently, almost no one knew existed.
Sergeant Horatio Julius Homer, Boston’s first African-American police officer, was about to receive his long-verdue recognition.
“He’s a role model for me,’’ said Lieutenant Detective Eric Eversley, 55. “It gives me a sense of inner strength to know whatever adversity I might have doesn’t compare to a shoe shine Sergeant Homer went through.’’
Hundreds of police officers, city officials, and minorities remembering a local pioneer embraced the city’s newfound history yesterday at a ceremony to memorialize Homer’s life and finally mark his grave, which had lay hidden in Plot 1,001 at Evergreen Cemetery in Brighton for 87 years.
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New K-9 officer reporting for duty
Photo by: Cat Szalkowski Dex, a two-year-old German shepherd, is the newest member of the Rock County Sheriff's Department. The dog, pictured with his partner, Deputy Shawn Nolan, was the first member of the department's recently reintroduced K-9 unit.
Rock County sheriff’s deputy Shawn Nolan can already credit some arrests to his new K-9 officer, Dex.
Nolan suspected a woman had illegal drugs in her vehicle on a recent traffic stop, but he didn’t have consent to search.
Dex sniffed the outside of the vehicle and alerted on the driver’s door. The alert was enough for probable cause to search, leading to a drug bust.
Drug enforcement is one of several ways the German shepherd will help the sheriff’s office after going on duty earlier this month. Dex also can track missing persons or suspects and get people to submit if they’re a threat.
Nolan, the dog’s handler, had to undergo extensive training with Dex after the dog arrived from Germany. Dex rides in the back of Nolan’s squad car, which is equipped with a dog-friendly riding area instead of a back seat. Dex also has a built-in water dish.
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Dog Day Anniversary: K9 Division Celebrates 40 Years of Service
The K9 Division of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is celebrating their 40th anniversary of being on the forefront of protecting our borders. The program started back in 1970 with military working dogs. Many may not know this, but the first K9 teams began right here in Laredo–first in Roma and then Falcon Damn.
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R.I.P., Ike. Job well done!
Police officers and K-9s lined Route 74 outside of the Dover Area Animal Hospital Friday evening to say goodbye to one of their own — Ike.
K9 Ike and Officer Polizzotto, Springettsbury Township PD
The German Shepherd had worked for the Springettsbury Township Police Department for six years — from 2003 to 2009. He helped to find missing people, sniff out drugs and catch criminals.
Ike retired in December, and his health had since deteriorated. His handler, Officer William Polizzotto, made the decision that it was time to let him go.
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