While the two men were on patrol, they received a call of an abandoned vehicle. “This is just an average call that we get often: an abandoned vehicle — no big deal” explained Jayme Gonzales, Public Information Officer at BCSO. “It should have been a simple call for service” agreed Otero.

But when the two arrived onscene, Deputy Otero realized they were in for more than the usual CSA training day.

“As we drove up, [I] noticed that the back door was open” recalls Deputy Otero. “We saw some rummaging in the back of the car. Couldn't tell if it was a coyote — an animal — or a person at that point in time. So I stopped, got outta my patrol vehicle, started to give commands, at which point in time a gentleman exited the car and started walking against the trunk area of the vehicle and then took off.”

The seemingly “simple call for service” had now escalated into a foot pursuit. In critical situations such as these, the general protocol is for CSAs to stay in the patrol vehicle while the deputy works to deescalate the call. So CSA Sweeney watched as Deputy Otero pursued the suspect, eventually disappearing from view.

Deputy Otero was able to take the suspect to the ground, at which point there was a struggle over the deputy’s TASER 10. As the two men fought, Deputy Otero was bitten multiple times. Finally, he was able to grab his TASER device.

Deputy Otero has recently been trained on the TASER 10, and remembered that with this new TASER model, he could precisely place each probe on the suspect, ensuring optimal probe spread even at a close range. He also knew that the device was more effective against heavy clothing, like the jacket the suspect had on.

"I placed that first one right in his shoulder and dropped the second one down to his thigh to see if it worked. And I got good NMI, got him locked up, and he went to the ground at that point in time."

Despite the successful lockup, Deputy Otero was still fighting the suspect on his own. He was not able to take the suspect into custody before the suspect was once again mobile and fighting back. “At one point in time the subject said that he was gonna stab me with a knife that he had.” The scene was tense.

Then suddenly, CSA Sweeney appeared. “He ran from the patrol car after he didn't see me for a little bit” explained Deputy Otero. On this particular day, it was a welcome breach of protocol. With CSA Sweeney's help, Deputy Otero was able to safely restrain the suspect until other deputies arrived onscene.

When the suspect was taken into custody, deputies discovered he did in fact have knife on his person. If Deputy Otero had not been able to successfully subdue the suspect with the help of CSA Sweeney, lethal force would have been justified had the struggle continued.

“We've had a lot of shootings where the suspect's armed with a knife” shares Gonzales, and she was thrilled to see that Deputy Otero and CSA Sweeney were able to avoid that outcome. “Death is never what we want. It's an outcome that is necessary when it becomes a life or death situation” but it is something that the agency works hard to avoid.

“Ultimately, we all do this for a service” explains Gonzales. “We love to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, but to come here day in and day out and work with some of the most selfless people who love to serve and protect our community, all working for one mission together, it's truly a beautiful thing.” Thanks to Deputy Otero and CSA Sweeney's quick thinking and brave actions on February 20, a community member got to go home to his family rather than be part of a tragic story.

This event also had another consequence. It demonstrated to CSA Sweeney, in no uncertain terms, the realities of a career in law enforcement.

A stepping stone

According to Gonzales, the CSA Program “is a really great stepping stone for some younger people to get involved in law enforcement...You get exposed to so much and [it] gives you a little bit more life experience that I think is really necessary before you go into the academy.”

Because of this exposure, the CSA Program is more than a recruiting tool — it’s a retention tool. The program allows recruits the chance to discover whether a career in public safety really is their calling before they go through the academy. “It's really hard to recruit law enforcement officers that truly understand what they're getting into,” Gonzales explains. Having the CSA program makes it a little bit easier.

Embracing the reality

Thanks to BCSO’s CSA program and calls like the one on February 20, CSA Sweeney now has a better understanding of what following in his uncle's footsteps truly means. After his shift with Deputy Otero, CSA Sweeney shared that he had a better understanding of “the dangers of the job, and how things can go bad very fast.”

Despite these dangers, CSA Sweeney remains committed to going through the academy and becoming a full-fledged deputy. Thanks to the CSA program, he has been given the time and experience necessary to realize that policing really is his calling.