The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Officer Donald Discher, left, and Lt. Tim Davis arrest a man suspected of starting a fight.

On the Beat

From missing kids to murder, Sunnyvale cops handle it all

By Natasha Collins

"Officer! Officer!" the man yelled, waving his arms to get the policeman's attention. "A woman just ran into my store saying she lost her 3-year-old son!"

"This is Sam Four, we have a report of a missing child," Police Lt. Tim Davis announced through his radio.

As Davis waited for backup, the child's "Auntie," as she called herself, drove up to the storefront in a state of panic. She was crying and shaking and could not answer simple questions like the name of the child or her address because she was so upset.

"Take a deep breath and try to calm down. I need to get some information from you so we can start looking," Davis said.

"All I know is that we woke up, and the baby was gone," the woman said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I have been out looking for him and haven't found him."

Moments later officers were at the 3-year-old's home, and a canine unit was en route to search for the young boy.

"It is not uncommon for young kids to wake up and start walking around," Davis said. "They don't usually go very far."

As Davis searched the surrounding neighborhood, a call came across the radio. "The boy has been found," the voice on the radio reported. "He was hiding under a table at the house."

This was just one of several incidents Sunnyvale Public Safety officers were called to during the 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift on Sept. 2-3. Riding along with Davis, I was exposed to the ins and outs of being a police officer in Sunnyvale.

"We do a lot more than just hand out parking tickets," Davis said as we headed off down El Camino Real to a fight in progress.

Sunnyvale police officers handle everything from transients sleeping in the park to traffic accidents to gang shootings and murders.

"We have every kind of crime here," Davis said. "We just don't have as many of them. There haven't been any murders here in two years."

As we raced into the parking lot to assist in the fight call, we noticed a group of people standing in front of a supermarket. Two other police cars, with lights flashing and doors swung open, were already at the scene.

"The fight was already broken up when we arrived," an officer informed Davis. "We have the two parties over here."

As Davis talked with everyone involved, he tried to figure out what had transpired.

"It is not unusual to get two different stories in a situation like this," he said. "What we have to do is determine what we think really happened."

In the end, officers took pictures of the bruises on the store manager, who had tried to escort a customer out of the store. Police arrested the customer and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon because he allegedly hit the manager with a can of soup.

"The way he was swinging the bag around and hitting the manager in the head with it, there was the potential to cause some serious damage," Davis said.

The man was booked and placed in a holding cell at the Sunnyvale Depart-ment of Public Safety. He was later transported to jail.

Sunnyvale has been rated one of the safest cities in the United States, but just the night before, a shooting had taken place at Baylands Park. A magazine had organized a Memorial Day party, which several hundred people attended. The only problem--members of rival gangs also attended the celebration, and guns were drawn. One man was shot in the neck and taken to the hospital.

"Shootings are not the norm, but we do have them here in Sunnyvale," Davis said. "Although the people involved don't want us to investigate, we still have to. We have to try and find out what really happened."

Sunnyvale is one of three cities in California that has a public safety department, which means that everyone in the department is trained as both a fireman and a police officer. Fire stations--there are six in Sunnyvale--are each manned with four officers, just enough to drive the engines and run the equipment. Police officers carry fire gear in the trunk of their cars in order to assist in fire emergencies.

"The city saves money because they don't have to pay people to sit in the firehouse and wait for a call," Davis said. "We are essentially the fire crew."

Each year officers get to choose whether they want to serve as a police or fire officer.

"Some people really like being firemen and are really good at it," Davis said. "Others like the excitement of police work."

Sunnyvale, unlike many cities, is a self-contained facility with its own 911 service, booking department, holding cells, animal control and forensic investigators. The only thing the department contracts out is ambulance services.

Officers are most commonly called to respond to alarms and domestic disturbances, which include domestic violence and noise complaints.

"You have people living really close together, and they get upset with one another," Davis said. "Most of the calls have drugs or alcohol involved somehow."

Quindo von Arlett is one of the newest members of the department. He is a German shepherd who is trained to search for criminals and alert his handler of their whereabouts.

"I have had him about three weeks and have had to send him in three times already," handler Bob Sorci said. "One time the guy even fought him, but eventually gave in."

Quindo alerts officers by sitting and barking when he has found someone. Officers will then ask the person to come out. If the person should refuse, then Quindo will attack any area that is readily available.

"He is a very good deterrent," Sorci said. "People see him and usually comply. There are occasions, though, when he does have to attack."

As the shift drew to a close, Davis made one more round of the parks and parking lots where people tend to congregate. All seemed quiet for the moment. As he pulled into the Department of Public Safety parking lot to let me off, a call came across the radio; there was another fight. Just as quickly as it began, though, the fight ended, before any officers arrived.

"Well, since it is already over, I guess we don't have to go there," Davis said as he exited his car.

Davis smiled and turned to walk into the Public Safety building as I turned to walk to my car. My night was over; his was just beginning--he still had to file reports and meet with officers to discuss the night's events. I knew I would be home in bed in just a few minutes. Davis knew he would be home in another four hours.

"I have been here almost 20 years, and I really like my job," he said. "The people are great, and this is a great town. I don't think I would want to work anywhere else."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 17, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.