The Sunnyvale Sun

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Sunnyvale SWAT officers keep strutting their stuff

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

For the seventh time in 12 years, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety's Special Weapons and Tactics team took the top spot at the annual Best in the West competition.

The annual competition--and test of SWAT teams--was hosted by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. It included 29 teams from the Bay Area, Southern California, Reno and various state and federal agencies.

This year's team was made up of lieutenants Joel Whitmer, Scott McDowell, Tracy Hern, Vinnie Mata and Don Discher, and officers Emmett Larkin and Tim Sartwell.

The competition came just as Sunnyvale opened up recruitment for new public safety officers, who are trained as both firefighters and police officers. Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger said the repeated honors would help attract better candidates.

"Anyone who is contemplating a career in law enforcement is going to want to be in the top department," Pilger said. "So any time you can show off the professionalism and performance of the officers, it helps in the recruitment process."

There were six events this year, and in addition to finishing with the highest overall score, the Sunnyvale team took first place in the physical challenge, second in the long gun and third in the team assault section.

The repeated success is also notable because unlike most major cities, Sunnyvale's SWAT team is made up of officers who take on extra duty on top of their police and fire duties.

Pilger said, "Most of them put in one or two SWAT training days a month on top of their patrols and on top of riding firetrucks."