Posts Tagged ‘militarization’

Petaluma Cops Get an RV

Friday, July 16th, 2010

originally published at www.pressdemocrat.com

Huge new police vehicle turns heads

By DAN JOHNSON,
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Published: Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 12:00 p.m.

The sudden appearance of a huge, new police vehicle at various spots in Petaluma may have some people wondering if the Petaluma Police Department has decided to close up its building and go completely mobile.

“Actually, if our police department building fell to the ground, we could run it from this new vehicle,” said Lt. Mike Cook. “It is a mobile command center, and can be used for any disaster emergencies and at all checkpoints we conduct.”

It also can be used during critical situations involving SWAT and hostage/crisis negotiators as well as during special events to promote public safety, and to help with crowd and traffic control.

The vehicle was designed to be a fully functional regional command, control and communications center for Petaluma and the Avoid the 13 Sonoma County DUI Task Force. It is equipped with telephones, multimedia systems, radios, computers and other specialized equipment that help to ensure public safety.

It cost a whopping $450,000, but the city didn’t have to pay a penny for it. The funding breakdown was: $260,000 from a California Office of Traffic Safety Avoid the 13 DUI grant and other OTS grants; $140,000 from the police department’s asset-seizure funds; $40,000 from an annual Homeland Security grant; and $10,000 from the Petaluma Police Officer Association’s Hostage Negotiation Golf Fund account.

The police department was able to obtain a large portion of the money because it is the lead agency for the regional DUI enforcement efforts in Sonoma County to reduce alcohol-related fatalities and injuries, as well as increase public awareness of problems associated with drinking and driving.

The vehicle, which was obtained about two months ago, has created quite a stir.

“We brought it to the Butter & Egg Days Parade, and it generated a lot of positive comments,” Cook said.

Grant money also has enabled the police department to recently purchase four other vehicles — a Chevrolet pickup for commercial-vehicle enforcement ($53,000), a Chevrolet Tahoe for its K-9 program ($50,000), and a mobile pet-adoption trailer ($35,000) and a pickup ($32,000) for its Animal Services division.

The commercial-enforcement pickup and K-9 vehicle were funded by American Investment and Recovery Act grants, while the PETCO Foundation supplied money for the pet-adoption trailer and Animal Services pickup.

“The pickup will be used for education and enforcement involving large trucks,” Cook said.

Jeff Charter, the manager of the Petaluma Animal Shelter & Adoption Center, applied for the grant for the trailer after a pilot program to increase pet adoptions was successful. In 2009, the animal shelter began displaying animals up for adoption at the Petaluma PETCO store, and allowed them to interact with customers. They are housed at the store and taken care of by volunteers.

This increased public exposure helped to increase the number of animals adopted into good homes.

The mobile-adoption trailer will build open the success of the program by allowing animal shelter workers to bring animals up for adoption to special events and thereby enable more of them to be shown to the public.

“We have found that taking the animals to the public reaches people who might not otherwise consider adopting or make a special trip to the center,” Charter said. “The exposure is great for the animals, and allows us to pair adoptable animals with good homes.

“We are very thankful to PETCO for the donation that will allow us to continue this program.”

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SWAT Eco-Terrorist Drill at SRJC

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Police swarm SRJC for drill

By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 11:02 a.m.

When Chase Covington emerged from Baker Hall on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus Thursday morning, his arms were riddled with bloody “bullet” wounds.

Covington was a role player an elaborate drill staged by the college police force, Santa Rosa Police, Petaluma Police and Santa Rosa Fire Department to simulate emergency response to a shooter on campus and a hostage situation.

The scenes played out were created by members of the Santa Rosa Police SWAT team, said Sgt. Mike Tosti. “They come up with the scenarios based on situations that have occurred,” he said. “Everything that we come up with is designed to mimic real life.”

Even a bit of pain.

Covington, who will enter the police academy next month, played a member of an extreme environmental activist group that took over a classroom of students played by other role players. He was hit multiple times by the practice “bullets” that were bullet-shaped vessels loaded with colored detergent.

“I suppose it feels like a bee sting, maybe a little more painful than a bee sting,” he said, looking at the bloody welts a little larger than a pencil-top eraser that marked both arms.

About 60 people participated in Thursday’s multi-agency drill, but only a select few had access to the opening script that had shooters attempting to take over a classroom just after 10 a.m.

The rest of the four-hour drill on the otherwise quiet campus that is closed for spring break this week unfolded according to how police and role-playing “bad guys” responded.

“We can’t wait until we have all the information, it takes too long,” said Mike Azzouni, team leader for hostage negotiators.

In the end, one cell phone died, forcing police to deploy a “throw phone” to speak with those barricaded inside. Later, a kidnapper tried to walk out with the “students,” and was caught.

Suspects also left booby traps in the classrooms — bombs that could have gone off in real life but which were detected and disarmed by police, Azzouni said.

Those “killed” included a person playing the role of a student and two playing suspects, Azzouni said. A number of suspects were injured, he said.

Throwing different agencies into an unknown situation and demanding the players work it out on the fly is crucial, Azzouni said.

“This training is invaluable,” he said. “It’s as realistic as we could get.”

Right down to the frantically beating heart of those playing the bad guys, Covington said.

“You definitely start hearing your heart go really fast,” he said of hearing the officers closing in on him as he hid in a classroom. “It’s just scary. They are scary. I could only imagine if it’s a real life situation, you would be terrified.”

Neighbors and members of the campus community were alerted to the drill prior to Thursday morning. Police tape stretched around the northwest corner of the campus from Armory Drive to Elliott Avenue to Scholars Drive.

originally published at: www.pressdemocrat.com

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Massive response to Rohnert Park hostage call but was any crime committed?

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Massive response to Rohnert Park hostage call but was any crime committed?

By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Friday, March 19, 2010 at 7:46 a.m.

ROHNERT PARK — A nearly 7-hour standoff at the Motel 6 on Commerce Boulevard in Rohnert Park resolved peacefully Friday morning when a 21-year-old Ukiah man and his father surrendered to authorities.

Both men were detained for questioning and the father, Martin Minoletti, 47, arrested on two unrelated outstanding warrants, the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department said.

A .357-caliber Magnum also was seized from the room, police said.

But it was still unclear by early afternoon just what, if any, crime occurred or whether either man had been held against his will as the son, Miles Minoletti, had suggested when he posted on the Internet that he was being held hostage by a crazy man, police Lt. Jeff Taylor said.

Before both men were safely detained, authorities prepared for the worst, evacuating the motel, closing three nearby eateries, and assembling a massive array of law enforcement personnel and equipment.

Parking lots normally busy with morning breakfast traffic served instead as a staging ground for scores of Rohnert Park police officers and Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies, including about 45 people connected with the sheriff’s SWAT team, bomb unit and technical crew, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Miller said.

The entire commercial area on the northwest corner of Commerce Boulevard and Rohnert Park Expressway was cordoned off with officers guarding entry driveways and keeping the curious at bay.

The incident unfolded after Miles Minoletti’s step-father in Colorado was alerted to his step-son’s alarming Web post and, gathering what information he could from family members, determined he was at the Motel 6, Taylor said. Miles Minoletti, he said, had recently acquired a Rohnert Park address.

The worried step-father called Rohnert Park police and asked them to check on his welfare, and police determined he was in Room 145 on the south side of the motel, Taylor said.

It was also reported that there might be a .357-Magnum in the room.

Police set up a perimeter outside and a hostage negotiator from the Petaluma Police Department arrived and called into the room, speaking with Miles Minoletti for an unknown period of time, Taylor said.

It was the younger man’s decision to cut off communication, saying he intended to go to sleep, that first raised doubts about his report of a kidnapping, Taylor said.

Not knowing if they had a hostage situation or an armed man barricaded inside, authorities began to gather en masse between 7 and 7:30 a.m., mobilizing the sheriff’s tactical squad, complete with armored personnel carrier, remote-control robot, mobile communications and mobile command post. An ambulance and fire truck also were on standby.

A hostage negotiator from the sheriff’s team then called into the room again and persuaded the two men inside to surrender shortly before 9 a.m., said Miller, who heads the team.

“They came out with their hands up,” and were secured by sheriff’s personnel who then turned them over to Rohnert Park officers, Taylor said.

Both men were seated in separate squad cars before they were driven away — Miles Minoletti lying down in his rear seat to avoid being photographed.

A police officer wearing synthetic blue evidence gloves later came out with the .357-caliber handgun, leaving the tiny room in disarray, its beds stripped and turned up on their sides. A small Playmate cooler with cookies and other foods was left open on the floor.

Miles Minoletti’s white Ford Ranger pickup and camper, a mattress and sleeping bag inside, remained parked outside.

Taylor said around noon that investigators were still trying to determine just what happened between Miles Minoletti and his father.

“We still have not been able to determine if he’s a victim or not,” Taylor said.

originally published at: www.pressdemocrat.com

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