I'd like to welcome the following new IAWP members to Region 10:
Lieutenant Chris Watters - Los Angeles Police Department
Officer Mari Noguchi - San Francisco Police Department
And the following members who have renewed their membership:
A/Chief Darcy Olmos - U.S. Border Patrol
Retired Officer Lucy Carlton - Los Altos Police Department
Sergeant Rhonda Wood - Irvine Police Department
Sergeant Theresa Dawson - Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office
Sergeant Andrea Salas - Sonoma County Sheriff's Office
Officer Marquita Booth - San Francisco Police Department
Sergeant Stefani Gombar - Phoenix Police Department
Officer Sergeant Lisa Frazer - San Francisco Police Department
Retired Agent Michelle Williams - San Diego Police Department
Chief Sandra Spagnoli - Benicia Police Department
Officer Jennifer Thompson - San Francisco Police Department
LEA Sheila Quaills - CBP Office of Air & Marine
Officer Lois Perillo - San Francisco Police Department - LIFE member
A very warm welcome to one and all!
I'd like to extend my condolences to the San Francisco Police Department and the Region on losing one of our own last month - Officer John Mulkern - who died at the age of 50 from a massive heart attack. John had been battling some health problems for awhile, and his death was a hard pill for us to swallow for those who knew and loved him; he had just retired on a medical disability a few days before he died. For those of you who attended the IAWP Conference in San Francisco in 2003, you may remember John has the big, happy-go-lucky Irishman who was one of our volunteer drivers to the Night Tour at Alcatraz, and who helped out throughtout the week wherever he was needed. He was so impressed with the Conference and the delegates he met that he wanted to become more involved, so he joined the organization, and had been an active member to the day he died.
Region 10 member, Sergeant Judy Riggle, from the San Francisco Police Department contacted me following John's funeral (there was a service for him in San Francisco, and then he was flown back to Boston, where there was a service for his family and friends there, before being buried in Boston). Judy told me that John's brother and one of his sister's contacted her following the Boston service, and told her that the Boston Police Department and the State Troopers had been absolutely awesome. Not only were they there to support a fellow officer and his family, they went above and beyond the call of duty by literally closing down the Turnpike for a couple of hours and escorting them everywhere. A BIG thank you to our brother and sister officers in Boston who gave John a very fitting send off! It was very much appreciated.
In my last blog, I spoke about officers from our Region being nominated for three different Officer-of-the-Year Awards. Although none of the officers won this year's award, I'd like to share one of those with you in this blog - Officer Ally Jacobs and Event Manager Lisa Campbell from the University California Police Department in Berkeley. (The others will be shared in future blogs). You may remember hearing about the well known Jaycee Dugard kidnapping case. Ally and Lisa were the two who broke the case open, which resulted in Jaycee and her two daughters being rescued. Here's their nomination for the 2010 Excellence in Performance Award:
INTRODUCTION -
On August 24, 2009, the end of an 18 year nightmare came true for Jaycee Dugard, who had been kidnapped outside her South Tahoe home, at age 11, while waiting for the school bus. During those 18 years, she was held in a sound proof tent in the back yard of a convicted felon on parole for previous rape convictions; she was kept hundreds of miles from her family. She had to endure a couple's horrific treatment, repeated sexual assaults and the birth of two girls fathered by her captor. Because of the excellent work by UC Berkeley Police Officer Ally Jacobs and Event Manager Lisa Campbell, Jaycee and her daughters now have a chance to regain their lives and be reunited with Jacee's family; and two criminals face spending the rest of their lives in prison.
The NARRATIVE -
On August 23, 2009, a man and two young girls walked into the University of California at Berkeley Office of Special Events in an attempt to get a permit for what the man called "God's Desire." He bragged that the event would be big and the government was involved. He made contact with Events Manager Lisa Campbell. At the time, the man had no idea that Lisa was a former Chicago and Cook County Police Officer and was reading his body language and Campbell felt something was "just not right" with the man and the two girls. The man's behavior seemed erratic to Campbell adn the girls were sullen and submissive. Lisa, who was preparing for another appointment, got the man's name and asked that he return at 2 p.m. the following day. She made a point to come across as professional and accommodating so he would return the next day.
Lisa listened to her training and experience and contacted UC Berkeley Police Officer Ally Jacobs and explained her concerns. Jacobs ran a background check on Garrido and discovered that he was a registered sex offender on federal parole for kidnapping and rape. She made a point to sit in with Campbell when the man returned for his appointment, promptly at 2 and luckily, he brought the two girls back with him.
Officer Jacobs also used her training and experience, as both an officer and a mother, to observe the girl's behavior and their interactions with Garrido. She found them to be pale, almost gray, as if they hadn't had much exposure to the sun. The 15 year old stood in a peculiar position - stiffly, with her hands on the front of her legs, looking up, while the 11 year old was staring at Jacobs with pale, bright blue eyes.
Officer Jacobs stated that the girls unnerved her as they seemed programmed; almost like "Little House on the Prairie meets robots." The younger of the two girls was staring at her with her pale, bright blue eyes. Both girls appeared emotionally and physically detached from Garrido.
The two UCPD employees attempted to engage the girls, asking questions that might help them get a read on the situation without alarming the man. What were their names? Why weren't they in school? What grades were they in? The girls mumbled odd names in reply and said that they were home schooled. As Campbell listened to their answers, she recognized that their responses about their grade levels weren't consistent.
The 11 year old was asked about a bump near one eye and she quickly answered that it was a birth defect. Jacob felt her response was rehearsed and she was taken aback by her response.
The man was talking in a disorganized way, and offered up a booklet he'd written, titled "Origin of Schizophrenia Revealed." He volunteered that 33 years ago he was convicted of kidnapping and rape, but now he was "doing God's work." At one point he grabbed hold of the older girl, saying, "They're great girls. The don't even know any curse words!" When he bragged about them, Jacobs observed the girl looked stiff and both girls seemed fearful of any reaction that would displease their father.
Jacobs did not have a basis on which to make an arrest. But her interview training and her observations of their body language and her senses were telling her something was definitely wrong with their interaction and more needed to be learned about the man and the young girls. Her follow-up would prove to be a true life saver. Officer Jacobs left a voice mail for his parole officer recommending that he check up on him and the girls. When she returned to work Wednesday morning, she talked with the parole officer, who seemed surprised to hear about the girls. The parole officer reported that he didn't have any daughters and one of his restrictions ws that he could not be around young girls.
Officer Jacobs said "my heart dropped, these are kidnapped kids!" Jacobs recalls thinking. It wasn't until driving home that night that she heard from the parole officer that the man had come into the office with his "family" and law enforcement discovered that Jaycee Dugard was in their midst. Jacobs and Campbell celebrated with the rest of us the news of the man and his wife, resulting in the freedom of Jaycee Dugard after 18 years in captivity.
A search warrant was served on the suspect's residence; the couple was arrested and charged wiht Kidnapping, Rape, and False Imprisonment. The man has a $30 MILLION bail and a no-bail parole hold. The wife's bail is $20 MILLION.
It is due to the quick actions, and a reliance on a career of training and attention to the little details that has led to the capture of two very dangerous people and the recovery of a woman and her two girls. The skills put to use during the inital encounter with the man and Jaycee's daughters led to this case being solved. From the initial contact, to the interview where things did not add up, to the non-verbal language Jacobs and Campbell watched and interpreted correctly and finally to the follow up with phone calls and database checks, these two female officers created the lead that brought about the arrests of two dangerous suspects and the new life for Jaycee and her daughters.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau commended the two officers and the UC Police Department for "exemplary" work. "Officer Ally Jacobs and Police Specialist Lisa Campbell displayed the intelligence, training, and professional intutition that are required of the best in police work," he said. "This week that commitment resulted in a breakthrough in an 18 year old kidnapping, and more importantly, it provided the opportunity for two children and their mother to live a new life, one that we all hope will bring them a full measure of happiness."
As the story began to unfold, "I couldn't believe I was part of something so big," Jacobs says. "People are saying I was a hero. I don't accept that. I was just doing my job."
When asked how she felt about the life changing incident Lisa Campell stated, "I'm just grateful to have had an impact and it's a relief that those kids now have a chance for a life."
Alert actions by two members of the UC Berkeley police force played a key role in events that led up to the arrest of the kidnapping and rape suspect and the safe return of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who in 1991 at age 11, was abducted from her South Lake Tahoe neighborhood. Officer Jacobs and Lisa Campbell's professional observations and actions also saved the lives of two young girls who now have a chance at a normal life.
Awesome, stuff, huh?
Until next time, stay safe and pay attention to your intuitions; if something doesn't seem right, it's likely that it isn't.
