Courtesey of Jessica Shannon
All six Sunnyvale SWAT competitors power up a steep hill while carrying a 175 pound rescue dummy in the Team Hill Run in the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Invitational. They maintained a substantial lead and finished first in the event.
SWAT Team unstoppable
Six-man Sunnyvale unit 'Best in West'
By Daniel Hindin
The Sunnyvale SWAT Team transcended potential age and training obstacles to win the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Invitational SWAT Competition, "Best in the West," last month. This is the third time in the seven-year history of the competition that they've earned this title.
This was no small feat for a team whose members are, on average, six or seven years older than the members of the other 19 teams. While some of the other teams are full-time units who train together constantly, Sunnyvale's unit only trains together once a month.
The competition, held this year on Sept. 14 and 15, consists of four team events--the hill run, team assault, jungle trail and long rifle course, plus three individual events--a combined weapons course, a shotgun course and a two-person combat town course. These events require proficiency with a Smith and Wesson 40-caliber handgun, HK MP5 40 Submachine gun, Colt AR15 rifle, Remington 1100 12-gauge shotgun and Remington 700 .308 caliber sniper rifle. In addition, teams need to maintain a high level of physical fitness and must be able to work well together.
Out of 220 Sunnyvale officers, 16 of whom are part of the SWAT team, only six were chosen to compete. Together, Lt. Doug Sims and Public Safety Officer (PSO) Doug Moretto led PSOs Bill Honsal, Darren Pang, Dave Miller and Joel Witmer to a first place finish in the hill run and jungle trail, as well as a second place finish in the team assault. Witmer took first place individually in the sniper competition, while Moretto and Pang took third together in the combat town event.
"We owe our performance to a real team spirit and support that played a big role in morale and desire," says Byron Pipkin, who holds the dual roles of patrol operations captain of the Sunnyvale Public Safety Office and SWAT team commander.
The Sunnyvale SWAT team meets one day each month to train with fire arms, participate in tactical exercises and practice hostage extrication.
Most officers in the public safety department apply for a coveted position on the team whenever one opens up, which only happens about once a year. Once a member is selected, he is required to go through a 40-hour training school before he can officially join the team.
Sunnyvale's SWAT team is only called upon for emergency operations, about once or twice a year.
"The calls fewer the better," says Pipkin. "Luckily, we haven't been called too many times in the last few years. We haven't even had to deal with one emergency situation since I took over in April."
On the rare occasion there is an emergency, team members must respond as quickly as possible.
"By the time we get there, patrol officers should already be on the scene taking care of the basic situation," Pipkin says. "When the SWAT team arrives, their primary mission is to secure the arrest of the suspects and to secure the safety of any hostages or innocent bystanders. We have officers trained for room entry and special weaponry, and we have snipers to deal with situations from longer distances."
Though situations rarely are this serious in Sunnyvale, residents can sleep a little easier knowing that their SWAT team is the "Best in the West."
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
