It’s been a long-standing tradition that we honor associate public safety departments within this column usually because of some common interest. And we can think of no greater interest other than saving a life.
It just so happened that Bob Dickson and John Clifford, both retired San Francisco firefighters with over 60 years of experience between them, were biking across the Golden Gate Bridge when they observed a woman walking towards them who suddenly stopped and climbed over the railing as if preparing to jump. Bob and John stopped and immediately initiated a conversation with her and found out that she was intent on taking her own life. In an instant, Bob was on the phone with 9-1-1 dispatchers while John continued contact with the woman who, after several minutes, eventually agreed to climb back over to safety.
Both Bob and John later described the intervention they initiated as one of the most meaningful in their many years of service because even though they had handled numerous calls and managed to save many lives as firefighters, this time they were faced with the reality of how this woman’s intentions would have impacted her entire family and they weren’t about to let that happen.
Emergency service personnel arrived to handle the follow-up but not before the woman gave both Bob and John a hug thanking them which is, let’s face it, more heartfelt and meaningful than receiving a medal any day.
(Our compliments to Officer Jennifer O’Keeffe and Officer Courtney Cunnie for allowing us the opportunity to recognize 2 of our fellow First Responders who might be retired but still remain in the game!)
A lot of visitors to The City and photographers as well routinely visit the top of twin peaks for the purpose of capturing the panoramic sunsets and the colorful morning wake-up call it affords. The thieves also drop by. One thief, already on felony probation had stolen a car to get to the top of the look-out at around 5:30 a.m. and then started to pilfer the locked and unattended vehicles for whatever he could steal. He was rummaging around in his 3rd ‘hit’ of the morning when the owner of the car returned. The owner, along with a nearby witness, then trapped the suspect inside the vehicle until Officer Giselle Glover, Officer Aaron Villarin, Officer Willion Wong, and Officer Edwin Lee arrived. Nice thing about handcuffs . . . one size fits all.
Once again, the officers from Bayview Station were challenged with having to arrest an individual who had just viciously assaulted another resulting in critical injuries. The suspect was clearly suffering from mental issues, the exact extent of which were unknown to the officers. Sergeant Raymond Cruz, Sergeant Daniel Silver, Officer Brent Sullivan, Officer Kevin Gomez, Officer Ian Mikulas, Officer Deshawn Wright, Officer Mark Wilker, and Officer Benjamin Shih responded to the scene. The officers contained the suspect and ensured there were no further risks to the public while Officer Shih, through his calm demeanor, convinced the suspect to sit down thus placing him at a tactical disadvantage. It was at this point that the officers were able to take the suspect into custody.
Sergeant Justin-Paul Bugarin submitted a commendation for the officers stating, “The SFPD has evolved as a profession with its tactics in dealing with persons suffering from a mental illness. The efforts of the staff of the Crisis Intervention Team are coming to fruition with peaceful conclusions.”
Captain Robert Yick takes great pride in the outstanding work the members of his Taraval Neighborhood Team (TNT) perform and here’s just a sample. The team’s attention was recently directed towards an individual who was known to be in illegal possession of numerous weapons as well as being on active probation. Sergeant Pavel Khmarskiy, Sergeant Raymond Cruz, Officer Antonio Landi, Officer Andrew Kavanagh, Officer Mona Klaib and Officer Michael Ferraresi, conducted a probation search of the suspect’s residence and came up with retrieving 3 semi-automatic weapons, numerous rounds of ammunition and several extended magazines enhancing the firepower of the weapons he had stored at his home.
And Sergeant Rick Yick has nothing but great things to say about 2 of his crime fighters at Park Station, Officer Fredrick Smally and Officer Jason Barnecut. Seems like they just happen to be at the right place at the right time by first investigating a bike theft ring locating the suspect who was already on felony probation for theft and by now had racked up 2 more outstanding felony warrants for the similar crimes. Then they make a traffic stop which turns into an arrest for a carload of illegal narcotics. A few days later they recover a stolen cell phone along with the suspect who took it during a robbery and, finally, they respond to a stabbing at Twin Peaks and end up chasing the suspect through nearby backyards and over several fences and manage to take him into custody. Sergeant Yick ends the commendation he prepared for the officers by stating, “Officers Smally and Officer Barnecut are extremely diligent and relentless in making the Park Police District the safest in the City for the countless tourists that pass through and the community as a whole.”
Lieutenant Antonio Santos, Park Station, wasn’t going to let his patrol officers have all the fun so he took a ride in the district and came upon a stolen U-Haul truck parked along the Panhandle. Officer Ronald Quock responded as back-up and arrived just as the driver of the stolen vehicle stepped out of the cab. He was quickly detained and during the subsequent investigation a large quantity of narcotics were recovered along with multiple bicycle frames and other items the suspect was going to have a real hard time explaining just how he came into possession of what was recovered.
Nothing worse than a package thief roaming the district. Sergeant Tobias Moore was determined to put an end to it so he contacted one of the victims and was able to review video of the crime taking place. He suddenly realized that the suspect from the theft that took place on Belcher Street matched the description of the suspect who had hit a residence on Potomac. The sergeant put out a Crime Alert and Officer Andrew Reichsteiner recognized the photos of the individual involved. A quick check revealed the person they wanted to find and arrest had 2 active felony warrants outstanding. Sergeant Moore put a crew together consisting of Sergeant Joseph Salazar, Officer Hans Gumpfer, Officer Gary Cheng, and Officer Patrick Gerrans. The band of officers soon located and placed into custody the Park Station Porch Bandit.
Lt. Robert Kobold later submitted a commendation on their behalf stating, “Often, victims of crime such as petty theft can feel that little action will be taken to protect their rights. The vigilance, tenacity and dedication to duty demonstrated by the listed officers not only solved 2 outstanding crimes but also removed a known criminal from the streets. The officers’ commendable actions have brought great credit upon themselves, the Park Police Station and the San Francisco Police Department.”
President Tony Montoya took on the Department of Police Accountability (formerly known as the OCC) in last month’s edition of the Journal offering a unique perspective. Tony’s overall message was loud and clear: Oversight is not a problem for police officers – but let’s even-out the playing field so that we’re not wasting our time on frivolous and baseless allegations.
President Montoya was right — this is not a win or lose game. Everyone suffers if the system doesn’t work and, right now, the blind lady’s scale is stuck on ‘tilt’ because of all the “Unwarranted Action” allegations that should have never been filed in the first place.
There was, however, one time the OCC dragged out some phony “Unwarranted Action” allegation and their subsequent bully tactic investigation yielded nothing other than a rather embarrassing revelation of sorts.
It occurred many years ago when we represented several officers who were involved in a narcotics arrest and subsequently received an OCC complaint. The primary officer was interviewed and was then asked if his partner, (who was identified only by star number yet documented in the police report as having found the narcotics) was also available. The officer said he was downstairs in the car waiting for him to return. The OCC investigator insisted on interviewing his partner immediately and we objected to his request because of a lack of proper notice and timeliness. But the OCC investigator was now incensed, making further threats if his order wasn’t followed, so we acquiesced in the interest of mitigation and we also wanted to see the look on his face once we complied.
So, when we came back with the officer’s partner, we were placed in an empty interview room. And when the OCC investigator finally returned, we introduced him to Max, a member of the SFPD K-9 unit who was wagging his tail at all the attention he was getting as being the first-ever narcotic sniffing dog to be investigated by the OCC.
And, yes, Max got a treat right after taking the 5th.
Stay safe.
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