The specially trained team accompanies officers and detectives when no-knock search warrants are executed. The SRT is ready for hostage situations, active-shooter scenes and other emergencies or criminal activities.
Though founded in 1991, the OPD’s SRT has had an inconsistent history, police department members told The Daily Star this week.
But in recent years, the group has developed through training and has been fortified with city budget and grant support, according to OPD Chief Dennis Nayor. The SRT has been a priority as the department has worked toward accreditation by the state Department of Criminal Justice Services, which was achieved in 2014, said Nayor, who took office April 2012.
Most small police departments have some form of specially trained tactical team, Nayor said, and to be without such a unit would be a disadvantage.
“The world isn’t getting any safer,” Nayor said. “It’s unpredictable.”
Though the SRT is ready to respond to special operations or crisis situations, OPD members said, the extra training results in a broader sharing of professional knowledge and skills among rank-and-file officers that helps with community policing on a daily basis.
“Everyone benefits,” Nayor said.
At 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, the temperature in downtown Oneonta is 50 degrees. But SRT members at a briefing in the Public Safety Building are talking about heat expected later in the day and how to manage operations while wearing Army-style green uniforms and 50-pound vests.
“It’s going to be hot today,” said Detective Joseph Tiemann, assistant SRT leader and a firearms instructor. Have water handy, he said.
At 9 a.m. SRT members meet at the Oneonta Police Department Range in Oneonta. Several members stand around a picnic table and help each other prepare for the exercises. They begin a methodical series of checks, including counting ammunition rounds and inspecting rifles and pistols. The process is a quiet one, and a sense of concentration is broken briefly with casual remarks about “watching too much ‘Top Gun’” or “catching the bad guy.”
At about 9:30 a.m., the SRT is ready to line up for its first drill. During the exercises, members stand directly before targets, then in later exercises, march to the left or right, turn and fire their weapons when Tiemann shouts “threat.”
In another drill, members line up as if in a narrow hallway and practice moving forward toward an imaginary crime scene.
Tiemann gave instructions about use of Glock 21 .45-caliber pistols and AR-15 patrol rifles and transitioning between the two weapons. Drills include tactical reloads, he said, and are conducted at distances from the targets of 1 to 50 or more yards.
Goals include developing marksmanship and maneuvers, he said, and an awareness of surroundings and of other team members. After the drills, he walks along the line of team members, checking with them about their weapons and giving feedback.
“Show me an empty pistol,” Tiemann said, then tells them to holster the weapon.
“On the command, draw your pistol and load. Do it now,” he said. “Yes, re-holster. Bring your rifle up and do a tactical reload.”
A chorus of responses follows: “Up, up, re-loading. ... covering, transitioning, up.”
All the SRT members are good marksmen, Tiemann said, and equipment must be checked after each deployment. Sometimes equipment malfunctions during the drill, an issue that is addressed as part of the exercise, and members practice covering each other during transitions. The day continues with drills to practice basic, advanced and new skills.
“They have to communicate, they have to move, they have to shoot,” Tiemann said.
In the afternoon, the temperature rises into the 80s.
Many OPD members are on the Special Response Team. But SRT members must meet service, physical and other criteria. Applicants must have three years of experience, Nayor said, and other selection criteria include motivation, physical fitness and firearms proficiency, plus a vote of confidence by existing team members.
SRT members are required to maintain a high standard of physical fitness and weapons-handling proficiency throughout their assignment to the team, according to the OPD website.
The OPD is authorized to have 25 sworn officers, including the chief, lieutenant, three detectives, five sergeants and 15 patrol officers.
The SRT has eight members from the police department and two members from the Oneonta Fire Department, officials said, and there are two police openings. The SRT trains with the OFD Tactical Emergency Medical Services Team, a unit that aims to extend the scope of SRT by providing patient care in any tactical setting, the website said.
On the OPD side, the SRT includes detectives, sergeants and officers, and the team relies on various skills of members. However, each member has a say in team operations that are conducted in a rank-free zone, according to Sgt. Christopher Witzenburg, a former SRT member who now advises and handles grant applications and implementation.
This year, the SRT has been deployed about five times, according to Sgt. Ralph Pajerski, team commander.
The team may be called into service on average once a month, but the needs vary, officials said. OPD has a mutual aid agreement with the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement coverage.
The SRT has monthly training sessions, covering a range of topics, OPD members said, and members also may attend conferences. SRT members receive no stipend, extra pay or automatic overtime, they said.
The Oneonta Police Department’s budget this year is $3.3 million.
Nayor said the SRT exists today for the same reasons it was established in 1991. However, in years past, the team hasn’t had standardized training or equipment and wasn’t supported in the budget, he said.
The SRT isn’t funded through a designated budget line, according to Nayor, who said defining the cost of the team is difficult. SRT costs are met through department needs, such as requisitions for ammunition and equipment, he said, and budgets for training and overtime expenses.
However, the expenses aren’t astronomical and have been made possible with assistance of Meg Hungerford, Oneonta director of finance. Hungerford has scrutinized the costs, Nayor said, but has also identified funding options.
In 2014, the OPD received a $100,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security, an award that would not have been possible if the city didn’t have an SRT, Nayor said.
The Homeland Security grant has helped with equipment, including vests and helmets, Witzenburg said. In years past, members would buy their uniforms and equipment, he said.
Historically, special or emergency response units date to the 1960s, Witzenburg said. A Special Weapons And Tactics Unit, or SWAT team, was an idea that originated in the late 1960s as a result of several sniper incidents against civilians and police officers, according to the Los Angeles Police Department website, and many of the incidents occurred in Los Angeles during and after the Watts Riot.
Locally, Witzenburg said, among notable local cases involving the SRT was an operation on Meckley Avenue last year.
On Nov. 18, patrol, detective and SRT divisions executed a no-knock search warrant at 10 Meckley Ave. Police confiscated 7.2 grams of crack-cocaine in an incident they described as huge for the area. Three people were arrested on felony drug charges.
The ultimate goal of a response by SRT is to reach a successful resolution without loss of life, Witzenburg said, and having a trained unit is crucial toward that result.
Nayor said: “They impress me every time they suit up.”
CHIEF: TEAM WILL KEEP GROWING
The OPD and SRT have conducted a practice lock-down and evacuation at Greater Plains Elementary School, members said, and have visited other schools and businesses, including the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club. SRT training and building visits will continue, they said.
The SRT is a necessary, highly valued unit, according to Nayor, who said he will continue to identify training, equipment and other needs, as well as qualified members and funding. When a warrant must be served in a high-risk situation, or other scenarios develop, having a unit to respond is not only critical but reassuring, he said.
“We have a team that can do it,” Nayor said. “You can’t put a price tag on that.”
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