Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "officer michelle"

A Day In the Life of a Hostage Negotiator

2009-05-04T04:56:13Z

It’s a typical evening on patrol until officers are dispatched to a call where a man said he is going to kill his wife and then himself. Dispatchers immediately begin mediating with the eerily calm man while they dispatch a small army to the call, including negotiators. Once on scene, hostage negotiators begin doing their job. It is almost like watching a waltz, methodical and arranged. Over the course of several hours, the suspect spoke with negotiators. He ultimately ended up killing his wife, but had a request of negotiators before he surrendered. He asked if he could have a beer before he came out. Officers granted his request and placed the beer in the middle of the street and illuminated it. The whole scene was similar to the initial lighting of the official Christmas tree in front of the Nation’s Capital. Being one of the officers on the perimeter of this scene gave me an appreciation of our department’s critical incident negotiators.

I spoke with several core members of the Sacramento Police Department’s Negotiations Team. Even though I spoke with each member individually, they all had the same basic sentiments about each other. The members of the core group with whom I spoke were Sergeants Tim Hunter, Doug Voska, Glen Faulkner, Detective Ben Gomez, and Officer Ben Louie. I was able to speak with them about some of their experiences.

“When you are working a hostage or crisis negotiation, you need to have patience and humility. You need to check your ego at the door,” Sergeant Tim Hunter said. Hunter is one of the senior hostage negotiators on the Sacramento Police Department. He has been a negotiator since 1992, teaches crisis negotiations throughout the state, and is a board member with the State Board of California Association of Hostage Negotiators (CAHN). He knows first hand how to handle desperate and distraught people.

Hunter told me about a 1996 case in which he was the lead negotiator. “The call originated from a house at Valley Hi Drive and Center Parkway. It was a domestic violence call where a man who couldn’t let go of his ex-girlfriend was getting hostile. Just before 7:00 p.m., the suspect forced the victim into a vehicle at gunpoint, and began driving. Officers got into a long pursuit with the suspect which ended up in the Bay Area. I had cell phone contact with him initially, but lost contact. The cell phone technology and range wasn’t what it is today. The pursuit ended up on a dead end street in San Mateo. He forced his girlfriend out of the vehicle and kicked in a door of a house, and took two more innocent hostages. The negotiations continued into the night. The suspect used the hostage’s telephone to communicate with San Mateo negotiators. My team learned that the hostage taker was suicidal and had extensive plans laid out indicating he was going to kill himself. Finally, at about 11:00 a.m. the next day, after letting his hostages go, he ended up shooting himself.”

Hunter relayed that it was very maddening for him and his negotiations team when they lost the initial cell phone contact. He said, “Everyone got frustrated. The hostage negotiation team got frustrated because we couldn’t communicate with the suspect, the cell phone company wouldn’t cooperate with us, and the suspect got mad and started shooting at passing cars because we couldn’t talk to him. Luckily, no one was hurt.”

Sacramento has had its fair share of high profile crisis negotiations situations. One specific case was the 1991 “Good Guys” incident where multiple gunmen took dozens of innocent victims hostage over the course of several hours. This incident was covered over the entire country. But on a day-to-day basis, most of the negotiations involve barricaded subject and suicide attempts. One such incident was in September of 2006 when a man was despondent about not being able to see his fiancé (who lived in Australia), and said that he wanted to end it all by jumping off the Howe Avenue Bridge into Highway 50 freeway traffic.

Hunter was immediately called to the scene to talk him down. Hunter spoke with the man for over three hours while holiday traffic stood still, backing up for miles. Not only did negotiators have to deal with him, but they also had to deal with impatient motorists yelling out to the man to, “Just jump and get it over with so we can move.”

From a logistical standpoint Sergeant Glen Faulkner explained that his job as a sergeant on the team is to constantly manage resources, while listening to the radio communications from dispatchers, and keeping constant contact with his negotiations team and his supervisors. He says, “I need to get my people on the ground as soon as possible and start setting up a location, gather intelligence, and ultimately establish contact to begin negotiating with the individual. Because I typically play the role of the resource manager, I don’t often get the opportunity to take the role of the primary negotiator. We have our experts. We have the Tim Hunters, the Doug Voskas, the Ben Louies and the Ben Gomezs for that.”

Faulkner was on the scene of the Howe Avenue Bridge incident. He spoke about some of the problems that negotiators had at that scene. “First of all, it was a holiday and the freeway was full of travelers. We had to close all lanes of the freeway for three hours because the desperate man was standing on an 18” wide metal band on the outside of the bridge, and he was walking back and forth over several lanes of the freeway. We diverted traffic over the bridge and allowed traffic to get back onto the freeway going the opposite direction. What compounded the problem is when every third car that got back onto the freeway was yelling for the man to ‘jump.’ Every time someone told him to jump, his attention went from us, onto the passing car. It was hard to maintain control in this situation. What’s most important to remember is that this is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It takes time.”

Detective Ben Gomez has been a negotiator since 1995. He was on the same case with Hunter involving the despondent boyfriend who kidnapped his girlfriend. He said, “That case was really unique. I assisted Hunter from the Communications Center. That case was uncommon because there were several agencies involved and we lost cell communication with the suspect while driving through the mountainous areas near Tracy. We learned a lot about the limiting factors of using cell phones after that one.”

Gomez relayed his thoughts about another case that was memorable for him. It was a suicidal subject who had been aggressive with his mother and was tearing up their house. Gomez said, “I was the first negotiator on scene and when I pulled up, I saw the suspect standing on the porch with a knife threatening to kill himself. He was very angry and agitated. There had been many attempts from both family and law enforcement to calm him down and drop the knife to no avail. I began talking to him and was ultimately able to convince him to drop the knife and surrender peacefully.”

Gomez attributes his successes to all the training and experience he received over the years. He said, “I’m glad that we as negotiators are a viable option for patrol in ensuring that everyone involved is able to go home safely. As a negotiator, it is rewarding to help someone in a crisis by trying to get them to realize that there are further options other than violence.”

Not all incidents are resolved in a peaceful manner. Gomez said, “One of the most frustrating parts of the job is learning that a critical incident resulted in a loss of a citizen’s life. You always question what else we could have said or done.”

The Sacramento Police Department’s crisis negotiations team is a small but elite team. The duty of negotiators is a secondary duty to these officers’ primary jobs. I spoke to Officer Ben Louie who has been on the negotiations team for 23 years. He commented on how cohesive his team is today as opposed to when he first started. He said, “We are a tight team. We may make fun of each other and give each other a hard time, but when it is time to perform, we put the kidding aside. We are dedicated to the same goal.” Louie is very intense when he is negotiating, and his team mates speak very highly of him. It is obvious he is an anchor on the team.

I asked Louie what he thought some of the positive and negative aspects to his job were. He said, “You are often a sound board. Sometimes you are on the phone for hours with someone who just wants to rant and rave before you can start negotiations. Most often, it could take two, five, ten hours. You know patrol is on the perimeter wondering what you are doing while they are out in the cold or heat, hungry and tired. The positive aspects are abundant, especially if you are successful and no one gets hurt. So far, we’ve done very well.”

Negotiators complete an extensive training and certification process, and it takes someone with a certain personality; someone who can remain calm and rational in the face of chaos.

As Sergeant Doug Voska explained, “We are a tight team, and we know we can count on each other. It is rewarding being a part of the team.” Voska has been a crisis negotiator since 1997. He spoke about an incident in which he was the Negotiation Commander. The situation was a domestic violence call involving a man who was threatening his wife with a gun. The wife had attempted to hide the gun, but he found it, which angered him even more. He then began shooting at his wife as she ran from the residence. “What was most memorable about this case is that the man was 69 years old and his wife was 68. We had been speaking over the telephone for quite some time, but the subject seemed to be sabotaging our primary negotiator’s attempts to build any rapport with him. They mutually decided to hang up for a few minutes. While we were discussing our strategy, the subject he went out the front door and brandished a shotgun at SWAT officers. It was suicide by cop. You always second guess situations like that. Could we have said something more? Could we have said something better? The stakes are often high in our job. However, we are successful a whole lot more than we are unsuccessful. It’s rewarding when we can resolve critical incidents without the loss of a life and give suicidal people what they need to at least buy them another day.”

In speaking with all these sergeants, detectives and officers, I realized that their combined experience in negotiations is nearly 64 years. They are invaluable to the Sacramento Police Department, and their gift of the ability to persuade the most distressed person to surrender peacefully while staying composed are qualities they were born with.

Drunk in Public

2009-04-20T02:52:41Z

Posted by dvh123

I am trying to find statistics for drunk in public incidents in my neighborhood. I live at 22nd and I street in midtown and it seems to me and my husband that in the past year or so we have had more and more of these incidents, particularly on the weekends. We are very disturbed by the number of individuals leaving the bars/restaurants in our neighborhood who are at best just loud and drunk and happy or at worst having horrible drunken altercations, sometimes right under our bedroom window. We do call the police, but this situation has gotten out of hand and it is also a very dangerous one in that there are fights and people driving away intoxicated. We need a foot or bicycle patrol. We need someone to watch people leaving these establishments and following them to their cars and stopping them from being loud, fighting and driving away drunk.

What else can I do besides call the police when I am woken at 2 or 3 am by loud fighting drunks?
Thanks!

Dear dvh123,

Thank you for writing. I did some research into two square blocks surrounding the intersection of 22nd St. and I St. Since November 2007, officers made arrests for a wide range of offenses including, but not limited to, public intoxication, DUI, simple assaults (fist fights) and aggravated assaults involving a weapon (a metal bar). Officers also responded to a number of disturbance calls. Often times, the source of the disturbance is gone by the time the officer arrives. An officer’s response time is based on the volume and priority of calls at that particular time.

I encourage you and your neighbors to continue calling the police when your peace is disturbed. We focus our resources on the basis of calls for service, so your calls are important. Unfortunately, we do not have the staffing resources available to follow patrons to their cars when they leave the restaurants, clubs and other establishments. However, I will forward the information you provided to the officers assigned to your area.

Officer Michelle

The Day in the Life of a K-9 Officer

2009-04-20T02:45:23Z

Here is an actual example of how it goes…Officer is on routine patrol. Officer runs a plate of an occupied vehicle with 3 subjects inside. The vehicle comes back stolen. Officers perform a vehicle stop. Car keeps going which turns into a pursuit. The pursuit continues for about 3-5 miles after which the subjects stop and bail out. Officer loses the driver who then calls for K9. Officers set up a perimeter and hold. They are waiting for the experts. Canines have the ability to detect scents from miles away. They have a scent cone that they follow until they find the area that is strongest. Once they find the strongest scent, they hit on it. Officers found two of the passengers and took them into custody. The driver was still outstanding. The driver thought he could ditch the K9 by hiding inside an industrial-sized BBQ outside of a Texas BBQ restaurant. The dog hit on the BBQ and was able to decipher the suspects smell amongst the ash, dried BBQ sauce and charcoal. When officers opened the top, he was hiding in the fetal position. He cried, “Don’t let that dog get me, I’ll do anything you want!”

They are the most loyal partners an officer could have. They don’t chatter or disagree, and they would take a bullet for their partner. They are the canine partners. The Sacramento Police Department currently has 11 dogs assigned. Nine of the dogs do routine patrol, and the other two are especially trained in ordnance (explosives), and narcotics.

The dogs that the Sacramento Police Department select are highly trained, and are chosen for their drive, temperament, working ability and physical soundness. Handlers continuously train the dogs at their new K9 training facility which is over an acre in size. It includes a 15,000 sq. ft. training field for obedience, control work, and apprehension training along with an area for a new challenging agility/obstacle course, yet to be built. Adjacent to the field is a large paved area that can be utilized for K9 training involving code 3 (red lights and siren) driving, felony vehicle stops, and vehicle retention and deployment training. We are also working on acquiring donated vehicles and building structures for narcotics and explosives detection and search training. It is at this facility that the K9s and their handlers will train in as realistic conditions as possible so that they can better perform out on the streets of Sacramento.

Officer Rick Osborn has been with the Sacramento Police Department since October 1979. He is the most veteran officer in the unit, who started his tenure as a K9 officer in 1987, and has had three K9 partners; Koda, Devo, and his current partner, Jerry Lee. He told me about a burglary call he responded to at downtown business. The suspect had smashed a window of an “adult” clothing store. After several announcements to clear out, Devo was sent in. Devo began biting a mannequin lying on the floor. Officer Osborn began to call Devo away from the mannequin and scolded him when, to his surprise, the “mannequin” began to scream. The suspect had taken off his clothes, and put on a short skirt and halter top. He then lay down on the ground and pretended to be a mannequin that had fallen over.

Rollo is the first Dutch Shepherd our department has used. Coincidently, his partner, Officer Linda Matthew is our first female K9 handler. Linda says of Rollo, “When I first got him, I was a little unsure of him. He doesn’t look like your typical police dog, like the other big, German Shepherds. He only weighed 56 pounds and looked like a cross between a ‘dingo’ and a ‘jackal.’ His face was small and he had these huge ears that didn’t fit his head. Besides handlers who are familiar with this breed, no one knew what he was. Not only am I the only girl in the unit, I’m the only one with a goofy looking dog. Now I have fun with it and tell people that he is a German Coyote, or an American Jackal.”

Matthews adds, “Being a K9 handler is definitely not a glamorous job. A ‘normal’ day for me now, is being covered in dog hair within the first five minutes of my shift, driving a car that smells like a wet dog in the winter, and often having dried dog slobber on my uniform. I routinely clean up vomit (Rollo gets carsick if I take corners too fast), pick dog hair out of my Starbucks, and have to listen to my partner bark in my ear all night. In the summer my partner drools on me when he is panting and in the winter he intentionally waits to shake-off inside the car on a rainy night. He even unzipped my backpack and chewed up my hairbrush, ate my lunch, and chewed the knob off the radio in the car! Having conversations with other handlers about dog stools is a ‘normal’ conversation to me now. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want any other partner. He never complains, loves to go to work and would do anything he had to to protect me.”

Just as Matthew said, the dogs love to go to work. On their days off, they go home to the officers’ home and integrate with their families. These dogs are very versatile. Every dog on our department is gentle towards children. We wouldn’t have them unless they were. But when they go to work, they are all business.

Aaron Thompson and his partner “Hutch” have been together since 2005. Thompson says, “A zero-to-60 call in about 2 minutes is pretty typical for K9. One minute you and your partner are apprehending a parolee-at-large (PAL) suspect, and 30 minutes later we are at a recruitment poster photo shoot.”

Officer Dustin Smith joined the Sacramento Police Department 1995. He started working with his partner “Apollo” in 2004. He recalls a vehicle stop in the south area where a PAL fled from police. Several K9 teams responded to the area to conduct a search in a perimeter. During the course of the search, officers learned that the PAL was possibly hiding in a residence. All of the residents were removed from the house and officers gave an admonishment that they were sending the dog in. A male subject exited a bedroom and immediately surrendered to Officer Smith (smart man). This, however, was not the intended PAL. The detained male advised that there was no one else in the house. Several more admonishments were made about the presence of the dog. Apollo quickly discovered the intended PAL hiding underneath a bed in the living room. After he was taken into custody (not so smart man), the PAL told Officer Smith that he was surprised that the dog had found him. When Smith asked him why, the PAL told him that he had taken a shower to get his scent off him so that the dog wouldn’t find him. Little did the PAL know there is nothing a person can do to hide their scent from a dog. Smith said, “You can’t control your human scent. Humans have ‘skin rafts’ that shed off your body. Even jumping in a river won’t make a difference. The skin rafts ‘hover’ above your body, on top of the water. They will not float down the river.”

Most of the dogs are cross trained as well. In addition to working patrol, the Sacramento Police Department has dogs that are trained for detecting explosives and weapons, and others for finding narcotics.

Officer Frank Reyes, an 18-year veteran has a partner named “Gator.” Gator is trained to sniff out narcotics. He is an 8-year-old black Labrador Retriever who has worked with Reyes since 2001. He has located hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of narcotics during the course of his duties. He’s found narcotics in dryer vents, stereo speakers, under car seats, you name it. There is no place Gator can’t detect drugs. Even the mere residue will set him off. When he hits on an area, he begins scratching, wagging his tail, and “hollers” to alert Reyes to look further. Once he discovers the stash, his only reward is “the towel.” Reyes rolls up a hand towel and tapes it close. Playing tug-o-war and catch with Gator, coupled with multiple “good boy” and “atta boy” is the best prize Gator could ever ask for.

To see these wonderful K9 teams in action, please join the Sacramento Police Canine Association on October 24th and 25th for the end-of-year Police Canine Trial sanctioned by the Western States Police Canine Association. The competition is a two day event with a narcotics portion on Friday the 24th, and the Patrol portion on Saturday the 25th. The competition will be held at Dan McAuliffe Field located just south of Sacramento State University. Friday’s event will begin at 5:00 p.m. Saturday’s event will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m. and will conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m. with an awards banquet to follow at the Sacramento State Alumni Center.

Log on to the Sacramento Police Department K9 website by going to www.spdk9.org. There you can read each officer’s biography and see photos, great videos, about upcoming events, and even stories like the one where K9 Officer Smith delivered his own baby at the side of the freeway on the way to the hospital!

Midtown Crime & Case Log

2009-04-20T02:35:27Z

April 9, 2009, 7080 24th St, 7:01 p.m.: Assault with a Deadly Weapon

V-was standing in front of the "Speed Wash: Laundromat when he observed two MBA's (40's) walking towards him. He recognized the subjects as local transients, but he didn't know their names. One subject accused the victim of saying derogatory comments about his wife. The other subject then picked up a metal pipe and struck the victim in the head (cut/ bleeding). The subjects then fled on foot. Victim was transported to UCD (stable).

April 10, 2009 7th/K Street: Robbery

2122 hrs, Victim called in advising he was just robbed by force of cash at the Light Rail station. He provided suspect descriptions and that the suspects just got onto the Meadowview Light rail train. Bike and patrol units arrived to check area and confirm descriptions. RT units were advised and stopped the Meadowview train at 11th/O station where RT located both suspects involved by clothing. Bikes and Patrol completed the investigation and took both suspects into custody.

April 10, 2009, K St, 10:25 p.m.: Assault

The victim was walking W/B K St listening to his I-pod when someone tapped him on the shoulder. As he was taking off his earphones and turning around to see who it was, the M/H/A called him a derogatory remark about homosexuality and slapped him in the face. The victim responded back and engaged the suspect in a fight, knocking him to the ground and beating on the suspect. All the while, the suspect continued to yell derogatory remarks and other hateful comments about the victim’s lifestyle. A vehicle pulled up and subject separated the two, grabbing the suspect and driving off. The suspect was a M/H/A 20's, 5-10 and muscular with a short buzz cut. He was wearing a black tee shirt and jeans. The suspect vehicle was a newer black 4 door pick up with dealer plates. The area was searched for the suspect vehicle with negative results. The victim can ID the suspect.

April 10, 2009, 1700 block CAPITAL PARK DR: Burglary

We were the first officers on scene of the burglary and put out possible suspect vehicle location. The suspect vehicle was a blue Chrysler 3 MBA's ranging in height from 5'8- 6'.

April 11, 2009, 20th/Q St, 1:30 a.m.: Robbery

Officers were hailed regarding a robbery that had occurred 20 minutes prior. The victim had posted some rare Jordan shoes on the internet and was to meet a subject to buy the shoes (Approx. $600 value per the victim). The suspect looked at the shoes and told the victim that he had the money in his car. As the victim started to follow the suspect, the suspect turned, grabbed the shoes out of the victim’s hands and ran. The victim followed the suspect into a parking lot were the suspect jumped into a vehicle with two other suspects. The victim reached in the open window and grabbed his shoes but was dragged a short distance before the suspect let go of his shoes. The victim received minor injuries. The suspects were described as 3 M/B/A in their 20's wearing dark clothing. The suspect vehicle was a maroon 4 door sedan

April 11, 2009, Second Saturday

Tonight was Second Saturday and the midtown area was very busy with calls for service. Most of the bars had no issues even with the large amount of people in the area. Avalon (which stays open until 0300) had some 415/242 activity at closing time that required multiple units to clear out the parking garage. 15th St was temporarily blocked at H St. to facilitate a smooth and quick clearing of the subjects/vehicles. Once the blockage was created, the traffic flowed and the parking garage was cleared with no incidents.

April 11, 2009, 1616 J St (Azukar), 11:39 p.m.: Warrant Arrest/Drug possession

SCT68 (Morales/Fraizer) were alerted by door security that a subject was trying to enter carrying narcotics and had just fled from them. At about the same time, E Team members were on scene to do an attempt pick up of one of the bouncers there for a 245 warrant. Officer Morales gave chase and with the assistance of the E Team, captured the suspect in the alley behind. When they returned to the front of the club, the subject with the felony warrant walked up to hand them some additional narcotics that might have been dropped by the suspect (in addition to the narcotics the suspect had at the door). Both subjects were taken into custody without further incident. Excellent job by all officers involved.

April 12, 2009, 7th/J St (Image), 1:29 a.m.: Assault

Sgt Bassett of the E Team on viewed a subject kicking another subject in the head in a fight in front of the Image club around closing time. The subjects did not obey his order to stop and were then pepper sprayed. One subject (later found to be one of the bouncers) ran inside and the other subject also fled in the crowd. As officers arrived, no victim was located.

Midtown Crime and Case Log

2009-04-11T03:09:19Z

Downtown

March 13, 2009, 8:50 p.m., 1900 P St.: Stabbing
Officers respond to the Zebra Club on a victim of a stabbing. They located him outside, in front of the club, with cuts on his arms and head.

March 13, 2009, 6:11 p.m., 1800 block of P St.: Robbery
Two black male suspects pointed a gun at the victim and robbed him of his cash.

March 13, 2009, 6:23 p.m., 1300 I St.: Robbery
Two Black male suspects pointed a gun at the victim and stole his laptop computer.