An educational day for the public on how public service agencies come together for critical events.
By the numbers. Wednesday was the fifth day of prosecution evidence, with twelve witnesses testifying during the day. Wednesday was the 44th court day since the jury selection process started.
The day was interesting because Mr. Wagstaffe, Chief Deputy District Attorney, started the day with the East Palo Alto Police Sergeant emotionally describing her view of Rich on the ground as she drove up to the crime scene on Weeks Avenue. The witness process started with the description on how the East Palo Alto Police Chief asked Sheriff Greg Monks to take command of both the crime scene and the search for the murder suspect. This request triggered the setup of the Critical Event Command Center at the East Palo Alto Police Department. We learned from the Sheriff’s Sergeant, who arrived shortly and established the command post. The Sergeant set up commanders for each task – such as perimeter control around the neighborhood where the murder suspect was apparently hiding, press liaison, Swat teams if needed, teams of officers going door to door, etc. You need to remember – at this point in time, the suspect could be holding a resident family hostage, hiding in the brush, etc. – and is armed. Each door to door event included Swat members. After an hour or two, a Sheriff’s Department Captain whose responsibility is Critical Events arrived to take command of the teams working from the command center.
The command center requested the services from a special agent with the Department of Justice. This agent’s specialty was tracking cell phones. He came to the command post and helped initiate the document necessary for a judge to sign, authorizing the access to the murder suspect’s cell phone. The access included calls coming into the cell phone and calls going out of the cell phone. Of most importance, the agent was able to see the general location of the cell phone – which was within the area under perimeter control.
Once the murder of Officer May happened, and it was apparent the suspect was in the area and on foot, mutual aid was requested. There was a need for officers to help in the search, barricade streets around the search area, work on communications, and much more. Officers came from departments around the bay. The Highway Patrol, local police departments, federal agencies, and Sheriff Departments responded. It is estimated that there were approximately 275 officers in various active tasks through the night. This included teams who went to addresses of the suspect, and searches for the suspect’s friends who were talking by cell phone with the suspect. A very important search component of the night was the light from the helicopter. The Highway patrol kept a helicopter in the air over the search neighborhood all night. The bright search light was on and moving back and forth across the search area. Moving a backup helicopter into the air when the one over the scene needed to take a break – all night! The goal was to keep the suspect from moving in the dark across yards and fences.
The final witnesses included the two Pacifica Police Officers and the Sheriff’s Officer manning an intersection as part of the perimeter. Like all the other officers, they were doing their job, all night in the cold of January, controlling an intersection as part of the perimeter control. Shortly before 6 AM on the morning after the murder, a small car approached the three officers, coming out of the search area. The car kept moving slowly toward the sheriff officer who was in the street lane holding his hand up and yelling STOP. The car kept moving. The officer drew his service weapon and aimed at the driver requesting again to stop. This time, the car stopped. As the Pacifica officers approached the car from the driver’s side, they saw someone crouched down in the back floorboard. One of the officers immediately drew his weapon and demanded the person hiding in the back to show his hands. It was approximately 14 hours after Rich’s murder on Weeks street in East Palo Alto. Alberto Alvarez sat up and held his hands up.
By the numbers. Wednesday was the fifth day of prosecution evidence, with twelve witnesses testifying during the day. Wednesday was the 44th court day since the jury selection process started.
The day was interesting because Mr. Wagstaffe, Chief Deputy District Attorney, started the day with the East Palo Alto Police Sergeant emotionally describing her view of Rich on the ground as she drove up to the crime scene on Weeks Avenue. The witness process started with the description on how the East Palo Alto Police Chief asked Sheriff Greg Monks to take command of both the crime scene and the search for the murder suspect. This request triggered the setup of the Critical Event Command Center at the East Palo Alto Police Department. We learned from the Sheriff’s Sergeant, who arrived shortly and established the command post. The Sergeant set up commanders for each task – such as perimeter control around the neighborhood where the murder suspect was apparently hiding, press liaison, Swat teams if needed, teams of officers going door to door, etc. You need to remember – at this point in time, the suspect could be holding a resident family hostage, hiding in the brush, etc. – and is armed. Each door to door event included Swat members. After an hour or two, a Sheriff’s Department Captain whose responsibility is Critical Events arrived to take command of the teams working from the command center.
The command center requested the services from a special agent with the Department of Justice. This agent’s specialty was tracking cell phones. He came to the command post and helped initiate the document necessary for a judge to sign, authorizing the access to the murder suspect’s cell phone. The access included calls coming into the cell phone and calls going out of the cell phone. Of most importance, the agent was able to see the general location of the cell phone – which was within the area under perimeter control.
Once the murder of Officer May happened, and it was apparent the suspect was in the area and on foot, mutual aid was requested. There was a need for officers to help in the search, barricade streets around the search area, work on communications, and much more. Officers came from departments around the bay. The Highway Patrol, local police departments, federal agencies, and Sheriff Departments responded. It is estimated that there were approximately 275 officers in various active tasks through the night. This included teams who went to addresses of the suspect, and searches for the suspect’s friends who were talking by cell phone with the suspect. A very important search component of the night was the light from the helicopter. The Highway patrol kept a helicopter in the air over the search neighborhood all night. The bright search light was on and moving back and forth across the search area. Moving a backup helicopter into the air when the one over the scene needed to take a break – all night! The goal was to keep the suspect from moving in the dark across yards and fences.
The final witnesses included the two Pacifica Police Officers and the Sheriff’s Officer manning an intersection as part of the perimeter. Like all the other officers, they were doing their job, all night in the cold of January, controlling an intersection as part of the perimeter control. Shortly before 6 AM on the morning after the murder, a small car approached the three officers, coming out of the search area. The car kept moving slowly toward the sheriff officer who was in the street lane holding his hand up and yelling STOP. The car kept moving. The officer drew his service weapon and aimed at the driver requesting again to stop. This time, the car stopped. As the Pacifica officers approached the car from the driver’s side, they saw someone crouched down in the back floorboard. One of the officers immediately drew his weapon and demanded the person hiding in the back to show his hands. It was approximately 14 hours after Rich’s murder on Weeks street in East Palo Alto. Alberto Alvarez sat up and held his hands up.
This gives me the chills.
ReplyDeleteWe are thinking about you and your family, and of course, Rich.
Amy Albertson