This article from a Facebook post dated May 12, 2015 from Santa Rosa (California) Police Department. Written by Captain Craig Schwartz, it is a press release illustrating a police contact what went well. By posting this, I hope to increase awareness of what cops do right.
–Thonie
Captain’s Blog
Monday was a very busy day for the dispatchers, officers, and detectives. While our Violent Crimes Detectives were working to solve the homicide that took place during the early morning hours, our main radio frequency seemed to be busier than normal with calls of people acting bizarrely and threatening themselves or others. Patrol officers responded to one of our downtown parking garages because a man was standing on a ledge at the top of the garage, yelling …and threatening to jump. When they arrived they found that a courageous City employee had intervened to get the man off the ledge. The officers were able to find the man in the garage and safely detain him for a mental health evaluation and treatment.
That call came very shortly after another call of a man acting strangely and yelling in the downtown area. A number of people filmed our response to this incident and one of the videos even made it to YouTube. [I couldn’t find it] We were glad to see the video. It showed our officers doing their jobs well, but it didn’t capture the whole incident. The video did show Sgt. Lisa Banayat, Officers John Barr, Matt Sanchez, and others from our day shift patrol team exercising patience and restraint while trying to resolve a risky situation with a volatile person. The video did not capture the beginning of the incident, when the man was yelling for officers to shoot him while he refused to comply with their directions and remove his hands from his pockets. The video also didn’t show the items officers found on the man after they were able to gain his voluntary compliance without any use of force.
The picture attached here shows the weapons the man had on him at the time. The pistol shown in the picture was actually a pellet gun, but looks like a real firearm. The officers were able to get this man the help he needed as well.
Thanks to all the officers and dispatchers involved in these two incidents, along with the others taking place that morning. All these incidents were resolved peacefully due to their tactics and decision-making skills. Well done!
– Capt. Craig Schwartz