SWAT teams sharpen their skills

Survival of the fittest: Hats off to the Bakersfield Police Department SWAT Team for recently hosting a law enforcement event that involved their counterparts within the county Sheriff’s Department.

The first SWAT Challenge, a competition that pitted BPD’s SWAT unit against the Kern County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team, was held at the 5 Dogs Range Thursday.
Of course, it was a friendly competition, but it did hold both departments’ elite members to the fire.
“These are top-notch deputies and officers who train extensively to deploy to the most dangerous situations law enforcement responds to,” said Sgt. Bobby Woolard of the Bakersfield Police Department. “The citizens of Bakersfield and Kern County should be proud of these men and what they go through to stay on the top of their game.”
The teams competed in a few scenarios: citizen/officer down drill; active shooter; deliberate entry; sniper-initiated entry; hostage rescue; and breaching.
 “The idea for the ‘Annual SWAT Challenge’ was brought to me by several BPD SWAT team members back in June,” Woolard tells me. “The team members wanted to stage an event that would test their skills by having several ‘scenario-based’ shooting courses that SWAT members would encounter during actual operations.”

Of course, another thought behind the competition was to offer a different kind of training that didn’t require a major expense (out-of-town private training, for example). These days, many departments’ training budgets are a bit tighter.
The team with the best time overall took top honors.
In this case, BPD SWAT landed No. 1, beating the county SWAT unit by 1 minute and 14 seconds, Woolard says.
The BPD SWAT team was presented with a perpetual “sword” award.
That award, however, will be passed between the two departments; whichever is the winner that year.
The scenarios went pretty smoothly, except for a minor mishap on the sheriff’s side, in which Deputy Randall Meyer broke his pinkie finger in one of the last sets. (You can imagine the nickname he earned afterwards, but good thing, he was fine, thanks to a visit with the doctor).
After the event, BPD took the time to honor a few of their SWAT team members who recently left the unit. They were Sgt. Jorge Gomez, 16 years on SWAT; Sgt. Matt Pflugh, 11 years on SWAT; Detective Mike Hale, six years with SWAT; and Detective Mark Herman, five years with the special unit.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Kern County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team also recognized two of their guys who were leaving their unit. They were: Senior Deputy Juan Trevino and Deputy Christopher Martin.
Woolard tells me that he hopes the SWAT Challenge will be the first of hopefully many years for this event. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team will host next year’s event in October.
Congrats to BPD. I’m sure the county SWAT team is anxious for next year.

Take me out to the ballgame: Speaking of competitions, I had the opportunity to see the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series Friday. (No, not the unfortunate Game 3).
Of course, I was pretty close to canceling out — even told my husband to find a buddy of his to replace me.
The night before, I felt pretty ill and, given all the heightened attention to swine flu, I assumed my number had been called. I was coming down with the swine flu all right. That morning, things seemed to be looking worse, I thought to myself, lying in bed, moving around like I had approached the end of my time.
Meanwhile, my husband, Julio, who had taken Friday off from his busy work schedule with the Sheriff’s Department so we could attend the game, woke up bright and early ready for our planned escapade.
“C’mon, Olivia, I know how much this means to you. It’s gonna be great. You’ll feel better. Trust me.”
But I just couldn’t move.
Just think back to the 1986 John Hughes’ hit “Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”
I was Cameron Frye — Ferris’ hapless best friend who was sick in bed, feeling sorry for himself.
Of course, Ferris somehow convinces Cameron to snap out of it and go with him on an unforgettable day’s adventure.
In this case, Ferris, my husband, somehow figured out a way to get me out of bed to go to Dodgertown.
Sometimes, it’s good to listen to our spouses or best friends even when we think there’s no hope in sight for us.
It turned out that I was just sick from something I ate the day before. I felt fine by the third inning. I even found myself dancing, chanting and clapping away when the eighth inning began showing some action on the Dodgers’ side.

And by the time, the game ended, the sellout crowd was overwhelmed with happiness. Strangers gave high-fives, patted each other on the back. People smiled and look at each other with pride. Friends I had never known before surrounded me. You were right, Ferris.
Thank you for making my Friday a memorable one.

It takes a community to raise kids

It all starts in the home. That’s what I often hear when people talk about the best place to prepare our children for success.
Yes, they are right to a certain degree.
But I also believe it takes a bigger circle to guide our children, including extended relatives, our kids’ teachers, and community groups.

One great local example is the Hispanic Excellence Scholarship Fund, or HESF. A Cal State Bakersfield initiative, HESF began 25 years ago as a way to increase enrollment of Latino students at the campus and provide financial support to high-performing talent.
Their board membership is impressive: Ed Herrera, owner of Herrera Insurance Agency; Cal State President Dr. Horace Mitchell; and Arvin High School Principal Blanca Cavazos, to name a few.

I attended the recent 2009 HESF scholarship award dinner at the DoubleTree Hotel. Kern County Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier was the keynote speaker and shared a sincere personal story of success and handy advice for the succeeding in college.
Nearly 70 CSUB students were recognized as HESF recipients. In all, HESF awarded approximately $130,000 in scholarships this year. That deserves a special thanks to local businesses that, even in this tough economic year, found ways to support this worthy cause.
Cal State’s HESF has given more than $2 million during its span.
Wow.

People help youth in different ways. Businesses donate needed dollars. People volunteer to mentor and kids, well, help each other.

When I think about that, I think of people like Kern County Sheriff’s Department Senior Deputy Derek Brannan.
Brannan helps run the East Bakersfield Sheriff’s Activities League, which reaches children living in the surrounding neighborhoods. He gets strong volunteer support from his wife, April, and their four children, Baylee, Breaker, Beau and Birdy.

Right now, they are spreading the word about a car-wash fundraiser to be held this weekend that would benefit the East Bakersfield SAL Stars football program.
The football program is made up of three teams and reaches about 60 children, third- through seventh-graders. About eight of the players are girls.

There’s Frances, one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met, and then there’s chatty, always happy twin girls Zulma and Cynthia. The three girls can be fierce on the playing field.
There’s also the funny and friendly Josh who, with his quiet and hard-working brother, Jaelyne, are powerful forces with the ball. And did I mention Daisjahn and Adam? Talk about talent, both on offensive and defensive lines.

I could go on since I’ve had the opportunity to meet these amazing kids. My husband, Julio, and other deputies, including Sgt. Danny Edgerly, are part of the team of coaches. My oldest two boys, Diego and Mateo, play with these youngsters, some whom they consider their good friends.
Brannan tells me the car wash money will go toward football gear (mouth pieces, socks and such), snacks, transportation (he usually transports the players to and from practice and games), laundry (washing the kids’ uniforms), and more.

The car wash will be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at two locations: the East Bakersfield Sheriff’s Substation, 1700 Flower St., just west of Kern Medical Center, and the Kern County Sheriff’s Department’s headquarters, 1350 Norris Road, just west of Airport Drive.
Tickets are being sold in advance. The cost is $3, cars and $5, trucks. If you want to purchase one, call Brannan at 978-6388.

Right now, two of the teams are undefeated while the oldest group has lost one game. Talk about drive, passion and inspiration.
Brannan teaches them about DRT (discipline, respect, and teamwork) and the kids respond.

I often wonder, if it were not for the football program (that requires hours of practice and game time), what would these kids be doing?
Growing up on the east side, I know it’s not the perfect place.
The sounds of drive-by shootings, the presence of gangs, and the access to drugs are part of the harsh realities. That’s not even counting living on little income and facing challenges that may exist in the homes.

So if you are looking to making a difference, here’s one program that could use some help.
Get your car washed. Volunteer for a day. Or sponsor a player.

The difference we can make in young people’s lives, well, it’s priceless.

Kern SWAT honors, new Chavez School playground

What began at 6 a.m. with a sniper briefing and ended somewhere around 6 p.m. with a precision handgun shoot had finally paid off for one group of local SWAT guys.

Among the group was my husband, Julio Garcia, a deputy with the Kern County Sheriff's Department who had been a bit worn and challenged to a new level, thanks to the recent Ventura Police Department’s 15th annual SWAT competition.
At the Ventura competition, he and our good friend, Deputy Jay Heisey, landed first place in the “Sniper Team challenge.” It was a two-man SWAT team event where both had to shoot different targets at a distance of 100 yards. The targets were about an inch in size, and each team was timed.
But they weren’t the only local winners.
The Kern County Sheriff’s SWAT team received second place in the overall team competition — the main category of the event. First place went to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Other competing agencies were: Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s departments; as well as Oxnard, Redondo Beach, Simi Valley, and Pasadena police departments.
Kern’s SWAT competition team featured my husband, and his comrades, Sgt. Drake Massey; senior deputies Dustin Downey and Larry McCurtain; and deputies Jay Heisey, Pat McIrvin and Jesse Alvarez. Alvarez was the team’s alternate.

 “I was so proud of our guys and the effort they put forth,” said Massey, who also serves as the department’s SWAT Team Leader. “The team was ecstatic with the second place finish because all the teams were extremely competitive, and it was so hard to place in the top three.”

To place in the overall team honors, SWAT teams had their scores tallied from the different categories they entered. The categories were Team/Sniper Shoot; Precision Handgun; Entry Weapon Shoot; Team Physical Fitness Course; Team Obstacle Course; and Team-building Exercise.

“It’s nice to know that KCSO SWAT can hold their own against some quality law enforcement agencies from Southern California,” added Massey. 

All eight categories required intense running and some other physically demanding event, like dragging a 165-body dummy, climbing a mountain, climbing numerous fights of stairs, shooting with gas mask, and shooting from awkward positions.

“The team had to tactically plan, strategize and stay focused for 12 hours,” Massey said. “We were beat up and totally exhausted at the end of the day.”

I guess I can forgive my husband for devoting higher-than-usual hours for SWAT training exercises in preparation for this competition.
And it was no easy feat.
Talk about being surrounded by rows of SWAT teams, all who were focused, physically fit, and shot well under extreme conditions.
But gotta give credit to Ventura Police Department for putting on a fine event.

“They put on a quality competition that was very challenging and fair,” Massey tells me. “We have developed a good relationship with Ventura and many of the proctors told us they were pulling for us to do well.”

The SWAT team is now thinking about participating in the Police Olympics next summer.

“We will be selective on entering numerous competitions during the year,” he said. “One, maybe two a year is plenty due to the fact that we do not want competitions to interfere with our numerous SWAT missions and  regular training with the remainder of our team.”

He added, “As I mentioned before, it did not matter where we finished, as long as we were professional, humble and gave 100 percent in the field of competition. Our SWAT troops did exactly that, and as their team leader, I was very proud of them.”

We all should be.

On other matters, I wanted to give special recognition to a local woman who has generously given to Cesar E. Chavez School in northeast Bakersfield.

On Monday, Chavez School is going to dedicate the new kindergarten playground equipment to Nema Traynor, and her husband, Joe.
School Principal Ruscel Reader (talk about another amazing woman) tells me that Traynor has been a major contributor since her granddaughter, Cosette, was a student of the Chavez Challengers. Cosette is now a 7th grader and on to another school.

“The current playground equipment was old,” Reader said. “Nema was out there one day, looked at the playground and says, ‘Our kids deserve more. They're good kids. They need more.’ ”

Traynor recently donated $16,000 for a new kinder playground. It features several slides, decks, climbing latter, and benches. The Chavez Booster Club also helped with installation costs.

“She’s a very humble person,” said Reader of Nema Traynor, who worked as a teacher at Mt Vernon School for many years. “She’s a good kind, generous woman. Unassuming.”

Traynor was also involved in the active Chavez Booster Club and the former Chess Club. In the past, the Traynors have given money in the past for chess scholarships, science materials and other programs.

“They’re just so giving,” Reader says. “They love kids. Just good people.”