It’s been another busy week, so let’s get down to it.
In Vancouver:
Thursday, January 28th was the 2009 Commendation Ceremony held by the Vancouver Police Department. Seven citizens were awarded Certificates of Merit, and there were thirteen Police Unit Citations. Seventeen police officers, as well as one police dog, were awarded the Chief Constables Commendation, and Constables Wayne Thompson and Nick Bell were awarded the highest honour of the Vancouver Police Department’s Award of Valour. The VPD’s Public Affairs and Marketing website has extensive coverage on each of the awards, and what each officer did to distinguish themselves in the line of duty. To read all the stories, please go to the Media Releases section and click on the date 2009.01.29/2009 Commendation Ceremony.
Charges have been now been approved against two off-duty municipal police officers who were involved in an incident that took place in Vancouver on January 21, 2009. Charged are a West Vancouver constable and a New Westminster constable. Yes, I do have an opinion on this entire case, but I’m going to keep my opinion to myself for the time being and let the wheels of justice figure this one out.
On January 27, 2009, Chief Constable Jim Chu spoke about the 2009 Law Enforcement Torch Run, in support of Special Olympics. For his full presentation, please see Media Releases dated 2009.01.27
Lower Mainland and GVRD:
Coquitlam RCMP issued a public warning earlier in the week warning women, particularly those living in ground floor accommodations, to keep their windows and doors locked after a stranger attack on a woman.
Kelowna, in the Okanagan, was the site of a double shooting outside of a business. Full details and updates can be read on CHBC News, and it is believed the attack was gang related.
I saw this on the news this morning, and it is far too humorous not to pass on.
Two New Zealand prisoners were being led through the courthouse when they tried to make a run for it. Police peppersprayed them and gave chase. Forgetting they were handcuffed together, the two prisoners bolted across a parking lot and around opposite sides of a light standard, slamming themselves together and foiling their escape attempt in a spectacular display of ’survival of the fittest’.
As the broadcaster said at the end of the video, “Crime doesn’t pay, children.”
The following incident was related to me by Inspector Guy Weilbach (pictured above) of the South African Police Service.
He and his partner, Police Service Dog Kira, are members of the Pretoria Dog Unit, and in mid-June of 2008 they were involved in an incident that saw the loss of one of their own. In sharing his experience, Inspector Weilbach proves police officers have to be ever vigilant.
Senior Cop Killed in Ambush
South Africa has had a spate of ATM bombings where commercial explosives are used to blow open the safes of ATM machines. Usually, the suspects are between ten and fifteen in number. All are armed with AK47’s and at some scenes they have used a Light Machine Gun (Similar to the American M60). They use fast cars like the Audi A4 or the BMW 330i Ext for the getaway. They hit in the early hours of the morning. They do not hesitate to shoot anyone who confronts them.
One situation that we were involved in was during June 2008. We were in a field helping the local police station tracking housebreakers with the help of Kira. We found the stolen property that the suspects dumped after hearing or seeing us. The suspects ran to a main road where a vehicle was waiting for them and sped off.
We all (4 of us and 2 dogs) walked back to our vehicles and we talked for a while like police officers can do at 02:00 in the morning. We received a call that there was a person tampering with an ATM at one of the filling stations nearby. We answered the call as it was about 1 km from us. My crew and I (with Kira and Zoe) drove in front and the two police officers from the local police station drove behind us. I did not activate the vehicle emergency lights or sirens as there was no traffic and it was in a residential area.
The ATM was at a filling station next to a shopping mall. I drove down the road with the shopping mall on my right side and was approaching the filling station when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. When I looked, I saw a person standing in the shadows and saw the familiar shape of a AK47 magazine. I immediately knew it was an ambush.
The guy stepped forward and I saw the muzzle flash from the AK47. Training kicked in and I gunned my Police vehicle to the floor because I knew that there would be more shots fired. I turned by back to my door to expose my bulletproof vest as much as possible to the oncoming rounds, and I lowered my head under the dash of the vehicle. I just kept on going straight. As my vehicle went past the filling station the ATM detonated, hitting my vehicle with shrapnel. I just kept on going. I could hear rounds hitting the vehicle and saw sparks in front of me as rounds were hitting the road. I crossed a road and turned onto a side road behind some houses and stopped.
My partner and I sat there for a second and checked if we were hit and got out to check the dogs. Luckily we were all okay. The dogs sat up straight knowing that some serious sh*t just happened. My crew and I grabbed our assault rifles (5.56mm x 45 mm) and moved tactically to the corner to assess the situation. We could not see the other police vehicle that was behind us. The street was filled with white smoke from the explosion, and the suspects kept on firing. I could see the movement of people but could not identify a target. I knew the other police officers were somewhere in the cloud of smoke. We did not risk firing and maybe hitting one of our colleagues. The suspects then sped off and my crew and I took chase. They had a well planned escape route and we lost them. When we returned to the scene we found one of the police officers was shot in the head. It was a terrible ordeal.
Kira and myself carry on trying to catch bad guys. We have been in some other shooting incidents here and there and been involved in a vehicle accident once. But that is the life of a dog handler in South Africa. We have to go in where the others don’t want to.
Thank you, Insp. Weilbach, for sharing your story with us. I’m sure I speak for all police officers when I say we are very sorry to hear of the loss of your comrade, Inspector Jaco Botha, 37, of the Pretoria Police Service.
Full news coverage of this incident can be read at The Pretoria News.
Posted on January 27, 2009 by Sandra in Recruiting
A couple of years ago, when I was a brand new dog handler (I still feel new, so go easy), I responded to a break and enter at a local car dealership. Patrol units had responded to an alarm – upon their arrival, they advised dispatch that one of the doors of the dealership had been forced open, and the suspect was possibly still inside.
Let me tell you folks, such broadcasts are music to a dog handlers ears.
Because the car dealership covered more than a square block, I asked for clarification on which side of the premise the forced door was. The unit at scene, a recent implant from the UK, was prompt in his responding broadcast, but due to the officer’s accent I did not understand a single word he said. It was only from the upward lilt to the end of his sentence I realised the unit had asked me a question.
Hmmm….I did not know what he asked me, and for a brief moment I considered playing innocent. Usually, I understand an Irish/Scottish/English accent and all the accompanying lingo, but not this time. Did I admit defeat and admit my interpretation skills were not up to snuff, or did I blunder on and risk the bad guy getting away? After a considerable passage of radio silence, I finally fessed up and broadcast, “10-9?” (in police terms, 10-9 is a request to repeat the last broadcast). The officer responded with a slow and perfectly enunciated update – “The breached door is on the south side of the building – do you want me to hold it?.”
Needless to say, I found the officer and the breached door a few seconds later, and PSD Hondo searched the building with negative results. A later look at video surveillance showed the suspect had been in and out before the alarm had even sounded, and he was long gone before police arrived onscene…but I digress…
I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside several officers who have previous experience policing in the UK. One helped me search a car dealership, one dug my two-wheel drive Tahoe out of the snow last winter (for which I still owe him a coffee), one is now a Sgt i/c of the Public Order unit (of which Hondo and I are a part of) and another trained alongside me as we went through the four week ERT course. All have been very good at their jobs, and each have brought their UK experiences with them – to our benefit.
Curious as to how they decided to come to Canada, I asked the Recruiting Unit what an officer from overseas had to qualify in to become a member of the VPD. The answer was this – an officer from a country other than Canada HAS to have their permanent resident status confirmed and in place before the Vancouver Police Department will even entertain their application. And then, the officer-from-another-country must go through the same steps as any other applicant – exam, physical test, medical, assessment center, background check and interview.
Policing in the UK is different that Canadian policing. For one, the majority of UK officers are not issued guns – there are specialized firearm units who respond to calls where an armed response is appropriate. On the flip side, UK officers have far more experience than we do on how to handle riot/crowd situations. In a recent training day with the Public Order Unit, PSD Hondo and learned about crowd dynamics. Pretty amazing stuff – where the UK officers have experience being struck with Molotov cocktails, we do not (thank goodness). Is it because of their different society? I’m not sure – I’ll leave that subject for the social structure experts. But we, as the Vancouver Police Department, are a better workforce with the addition of our brothers and sisters from the UK.
Wednesday, February 4th, 7:00 pm, Calgary, Alberta at the Delta Bow Valley Hotel, 209 4th Ave SE (yes, we recruit out of province)
Here’s an interesting fact you may not have known – we have a number of police officers working with the VPD who were originally officers in the UK. With their wealth of experience, these officers have been an incredible asset for the VPD…more on them tomorrow.
Also to come later in the week – I received an email from a police dog handler who works in South Africa. He recalled an incident he attended in the summer of last year, and the story made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He has agreed to share his story with you, so all of us in policing can learn how important officer safety is.
Well, the bridge has been the biggest local news, and hot the heels of the bridge is Vancouver’s week in policing:
Pattullo Bridge fire- one of the wooden trestles under the south section of one of the Lower Mainland’s busiest bridges caught fire early in the morning on Sunday, Jan.18th. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire, and the bridge will remain closed until at least early February. Oh dear. That means 80,000+ commuters having to find an alternative route into work.
HOMICIDE UPDATE- 30 year old AAron Juhani Yliruusi has been charged with 2nd degree murder in relation to a homicide that took place in Vancouver on January 11, 2009. For details, check the Media Releases page under date 09.01.20
It pains me to write this, but three police officers from different departments are now under investigation by the Vancouver Police after they were allegedly involved in an altercation early in the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 21/09. Again, full details of the investigation to this point can be read on the Media Releases page of the VPD.
In policing news from around the Lower Mainland:
Jamie Bacon, a man well known to police, was the target of an apparent gang-land style shooting on Wednesday. He managed to escape serious injury, but the time and location of the shooting have raised concerns among the public and the police. Bacon was shot at while sitting in his car at a busy Abbotsford intersection at 3:50 pm in the afternoon. An innocent bystanders car was struck by a stray bullet, and it’s a miracle no one else was injured, For the full story, see the article written by Kim Bolan of The Vancouver Sun newspaper.
The Barack Obama inauguration – this one is just plain NEWS from south of the border. Wow. I just hope he can deliver what he’s promised.
On a lighter note, all of the members of the VPD’s Dog Squad gathered together on Monday in the park next to Science World for the annual team photo. There was a lot of barking, but by the end of it, we were able to get all eighteen dogs together just in time for the fog to break, and our photographers were able to get some great shots. I’ll try to post one here once we’ve decided on which photo to use.
That’s it for this week, everyone. Have a good weekend, and stay safe.
Since 1909, the Vancouver Police have deployed officers on horseback. Stationed out of the stables located in Stanley Park, the Mounted Squad members patrol the park and the surrounding streets. When the need arises, the squad is brought further into the city, and the horses can be seen working events such as the summer fireworks, or assisting general patrol in the downtown core and in the Downtown Eastside. I have worked a number of the fireworks events, and have seen first hand how effective the horses are at moving crowds and at keeping the crowds under control.
Mounted Squad members and their horses have their own Collector’s Trading Cards – if you see a member on horseback, feel free to ask them for one of their cards.
PSD Hondo and I have had the opportunity to train with the Mounted Squad on several occasions. At first, Hondo seemed to be unsure of the horses, but once he figured out the horses were not interested in him, he relaxed. Now, Hondo ignores the horses and is able to focus on whatever training task is at hand, as you can see in the photo below.
photo courtesy of Trevor Black
The horses are beautiful, and when working they and their riders are an impressive sight. To read more about the Mounted Squad and their history, and to view their collector cards, please visit their website.
As police officers, not only must we be physically prepared to deal with a threat or a high stress situation, we have to be mentally prepared to do so. Experience usually plays a role in how calm an officer will be when under stress, and one of the most obvious cases of this I have seen is when officers are engaged in a vehicle pursuit or are driving Code Three (lights and sirens).
An experienced officer is usually able to keep his/her emotions under control, resulting in clear, calm radio broadcasts. Secondary officers responding to the call know where the officer is, are able to understand what the officer is saying, and are able to paint a picture in their minds about what is happening. Remaining calm on the radio is paramount.
There are several articles and techniques on how to maintain your calm when feeling the effects of an ‘adrenalin dump’, and I’ve located two that are worth taking another look at:
The second article, PURSUIT INDUCED ADRENALIN OVERLOADS, written by Sgt. Charles E. Humes, speaks of how important it is for an officer to control their physiological and emotional arousal levels when faced with a high-stress situation.
I’m going to leave all the professional medical talk and research to those who know it best – the experts. What I am going to mention is how I’ve learned to use one of these techniques to keep me calm.
The very first day of my Block Two training in 1995 (the practical portion of the Police Academy with actual graduation still weeks aways) was the first time I had presented myself to the public while wearing a uniform and a pistol. As far as any citizen knew I had been an officer for years, when the truth of the matter was I was too new to even know how to speak into the police radio! My field trainer and I had only just belted ourselves into the police cruiser when an in progess call was dispatched. It was all I could do to keep from grabbing the “Oh S#@*” handle on the doorpost as my field trainer rocketed the cruiser across the city with the lights flashing and the siren wailing. We made it to the incident, but by the time we got there, I was useless – the adrenalin pumping through my system had overridden my ability to function properly.
Later, after seeing how my body reacted to the call, I focused on learning how to overcome the physiological effects of an adrenalin dump, and it’s a focus I still have to this day. One of the techniques that works for me is when I control my breathing. There are several ways to control your breathing – ‘combat breathing’, ‘four-count breathing’ and ‘diaphragmatic breathing’ (all can be read about in the above linked articles), and I think I use a combination.
These days, not many calls cause me to have a major adrenalin dump – the exception is a vehicle pursuit. A vehicle pursuit, especially when PSD Hondo and I are directly behind the suspect vehicle, will always cause the adrenalin to go racing through my system. But remember what I said in another post about knowledge being power? The same goes for this. I knowmy adrenalin is going to skyrocket, so before it gets a chance to override my ability to fuction, I take several slow, deep breaths, completely filling and emptying my lungs. Sometimes, I chuff the air out in one harsh breath, and sometimes I breath out slowly – it depends on the situation. I ‘combat breathe’ for as long as it takes for me to gain control over the adrenalin, and until an eerie calm comes over me, enabling me to focus on the task at hand.
Oh, and I whistle. One Block Two recruit out on a recent ride along with me mentioned after a long Code Three run that I whistled while driving. Who knew?
Following are some signs and symptoms a person may experience if involved in a critical incident. When we, as the VPD CISM Team, meet with officers, we try to impress upon them that they may experience all or none of the signs, and at any intensity. We also try to impress upon them that whatever they are going through is a normal process, and we also stress the importance of seeking additional professional help if needed.
SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
Behavioural
Any change in normal behaviour
Changes in activity level, appetite, sexual interest
Withdrawal, irritability, anger, inattentiveness
Breaking the ‘rules’ or adhering to them without flexibility
Absenteeism, procrastination, poor performance
Increased anxiety
Sleep problems
Physical
Fatigue
Low pain threshold
Muscle tension or pain
Changes in breathing (hyperventilating)
Cardiac and circulatory changes
Dry mouth
Excessive perspiration
Blurring of vision
Stomach and digestive problems
Exacerbation of existing problems (spine and back problems, migraine headaches, arthritic and rheumatic conditions, asthma, skin disorders)
Cognitive
Indecision
Denial of problem
Depression
Pessimism
Feelings of loss of control or isolation
Overly sensitive
Hypercritical
Memory loss
Poor concentration
This list is not exhaustive, but a guide to help people suffering from critical incident stress understand what their bodies are going through, and to assist them with their recovery.
Today, I’m going to cover some things to consider if you have been involved in a critical incident. The list of ‘do’s and don’ts’, compiled with the assistance of the ICISF, are suggestions only – all with the intention of educating those suffering from critical incident stress that what they are feeling is NORMAL.
It should be noted that critical incidents are not experienced only by those in law enforcement. Any event outside the range of normal human experience can happen to anyone, such as witnessing or being the victim of a violent crime. The following is information we give our police officers after they have been involved in a critical incident, but can be applied to anyone:
SUGGESTED POST-CRITICAL INCIDENT DO’S AND DON’TS
DO:
Do expect the incident to bother you
Do maintain a good diet, cutting down on caffeine and sugar
Do exercise
Do remind yourself that post-trauma symptoms are normal
Do spend time with family and friends
Do get extra help, if necessary
DON’T:
Don’t drink alcohol excessively
Don’t use legal or illegal substances to numb post-trauma symptoms
Don’t withdraw from family and friends
Don’t think you are ‘crazy’
Don’t think you are the only one affected (if it was a large incident)
Don’t have unrealistic expectations for recovery
There are several reasons for the ‘do’s and don’ts’. By eating right, you give your body the nourishment it needs to help you recover. Exercise releases endorphins, making you feel better. If you numb the symptoms by drinking too much or taking some other type of drug, you are only delaying the onset of symptoms and your ultimate recovery.
You don’t have to start doing marathon sessions in the gym, or forgoing your usual glass of wine with dinner. All you have to do is to remember to look after yourself, because you’ve just gone through a pretty horrible experience.
Hopefully, you will never have to put into practice the tips I’ve provided above. Tomorrow, I’ll provide a list of symptoms that may be experienced after a critical incident – again, knowledge is power.
