FIELD OPERATIONS BUREAU
Special Operations
The Special Operations Division of the Midland Police Department works under the Field Operations umbrella and deals with various functions that support and supplement the officers working on patrol. The Special Operations Division is commanded by Lt. Brian Bogart, a 24 year veteran of the department.
Traffic Section
The traffic section consists of two sergeants, 7 traffic officers, 3 community service officers, and one secretary. The two sergeants, Sgt. Kyle Sullivan and Sgt. Rick Lewis, each have several traffic officers and at least one community service officer working for each of them.
Traffic Enforcement
The traffic officers are involved in pro-active traffic enforcement, along with random traffic enforcement activities. The pro-active enforcement is quite often based upon areas that have a large number of traffic accidents, focusing on the violations that are deemed to have contributed to these accidents. A lot of pro-active enforcement activity is also focused on addressing citizen traffic complaints. These complaints can be for nearly any type of moving violation or parking violation. When citizens make a traffic complaint through the police department, an actual traffic complaint form is filled out and will be routed to a traffic officer and also to the patrol division that covers the area of the complaint, where it is also assigned to a patrol officer. Each of these officers is required to evaluate and work this complaint and send back a summary of their activity to the Special Operations commander. Sometimes these complaints are resolved and sometimes they are continuing, long-term problems that have to be addressed on a regular basis. Officers sometimes work the pro-active enforcement by themselves, and sometimes they work in groups to address the traffic problems at some locations. This has proven to be a very highly visible and effective method of enforcement in some situations.
The community service officers handle a majority of the parking violations in the downtown area and other areas around the city as needed. They are also assigned traffic complaints to work when the primary complaint is about parking violations.
Accident/Crash Investigation
The traffic officers work a majority of the traffic accidents that occur during the peak accident times, which is primarily between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The traffic officers also work all of the fatality accidents along with those that are deemed to have life-threatening injuries. A traffic officer will also be called to work any accident involving a city vehicle and some other special circumstance type accidents. The traffic officers have been trained and have extensive experience in analyzing the data observed at the scene of the accident to determine the actual sequence of events and causes of these accidents. Traffic officers are required to attend a number of advanced crash investigation and reconstruction courses to help develop a special expertise in these types of investigations.
One traffic officer specializes in hit and run investigation, following up on these types of accidents in much the same manner that detectives follow up on other criminal cases. This officer investigates these offenses, completes the state reports, and files any appropriate charges necessary. He also assists in working accidents when other traffic officers are tied up.
Special Events
The traffic section, sometimes assisted by patrol officers, handles most of the special events that involve vehicles or pedestrians on the roadways, including, but not limited to, parades, charity walks, runs, and bike races. The traffic officers are also tasked with some special escorts, such as large buildings and equipment being moved through city streets.
Emergency Operations
The Midland Police Department’s emergency operations involvement is overseen by both Lt. Bogart and Sgt. Sullivan. Emergency operations involve any major event such as a tornado hitting downtown, a train wreck with hazardous materials released, terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction, and large aircraft crashes, just to name a few examples. Though coordinated by those trained under the emergency operations umbrella, resources for such events may come from all areas of the police department, other city departments, and other private and public entities. Much of the training and exercises that this department participates in are coordinated with and through such agencies as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, along with the state agencies with like responsibilities. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the various hurricane disasters that this country has been involved in over the last few years, emergency management has become more of an issue of concern for many jurisdictions across the United States, including the city of Midland.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal
The Midland Police Department’s bomb unit is made up of officers from several different areas of the police department, with this being a secondary duty for these officers, much as is the case with SWAT officers. The actual bomb squad is headed up by Sgt. Brian Rackow. Sgt. Rackow and his unit train on a monthly basis and will soon be training with a new bomb robot that is being furnished with a grant from Homeland Security.
The bomb unit is certified and receives its accreditation through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and each of the members of the unit have to attend some extensive training sponsored by the federal government. The unit works closely with the Odessa bomb squad and is part of a regional response for explosive calls in this part of the state. The unit responds to bomb threats and also to possible devices and bombs that are found and reported to the department. The unit also works closely with the Midland Police Tactical Unit and has been trained in the recognition and handling of booby trap devices.
Field Training Officer Program
The Midland Police Department’s Field Training Officer Program, overseen by Sgt. Kyle Sullivan, is staffed by Field Training Officers throughout the department. These officers receive new probationary officers, fresh out of the police academy, and actually take them out into the streets and oversee the new officers actually putting their training into action on the street. In the beginning phases of this program, the probationary officer spends a majority of his/her time watching the Field Training Officer do the work, and does just a small portion himself/herself. As the probationary officer progresses through the program, they start taking on more of the actual work load and the Field Training Officer becomes more of an observer/evaluator. The last phase of the program, called the “ghost phase” has the Field Training Officer wearing civilian clothing and riding with the probationary police officer in an almost strictly evaluation mode. He will not directly get involved in a situation unless it is of a very serious nature. His job is to determine whether the probationary police officer has the necessary skills to be placed out on patrol on his own. A slightly modified version of the program is in place to indoctrinate certified officers that come to us from other departments into the Midland Police Department’s policies and procedures, along with teaching them the actual physical layout of the town and other essential information necessary before they are turned loose on their own. The field training officer program works off of a strict set of guidelines and gives the new officers a variety of methods on how to do their jobs, based upon the individual field training officer’s area of expertise. The new officers can take all of these observations and information and develop somewhat their own style of doing their jobs. This is by no means an easy process for the probationary police officer and a number of these probationary police officers get weeded out during the process, in an attempt to maintain the highest quality officer for this department.
Equipment Administration
In-car video cameras
The department’s in-car video cameras are administered by Sgt. Rick Lewis. He also trains the officers and supervisors in the use of the camera systems and in retrieving data from the recordings. The department has a mixture of both VCR camera systems and digital camera systems, with the VCR systems being phased out as they wear out and the new digital systems replacing them. The camera systems have turned into a very good tool for the department.
Radars
The department’s radar inventory is administered by Sgt. Kyle Sullivan, who keeps track of who has a radar issued and the current status of the radar. The radars are issued to traffic officers and to a number of patrol officers on the various shifts. The department is currently utilizing mounted moving radars, handheld radars, and a couple of infra-red laser radar units. These radars are services and certified on a regular basis.
Portable Breath Testers
The department has a number of portable breath testers that are used as preliminary tests for such offenses as driving while intoxicated, but are also being used to detect underage persons who are drinking. Sgt. Sullivan keeps track of this equipment and the maintenance of this equipment, even though these instruments are spread throughout the department.
Contact Information:
| Special Operations Commander |
Lt. Brian Bogart |
685-7117 |
| Traffic Sergeant |
Sgt. Kyle Sullivan |
685-7124 |
| Traffic Sergeant |
Sgt. Rick Lewis |
685-7172 |
| Bomb Squad Sergeant |
Sgt. Brian Rackow |
685-7141 |
| Hit and Run Investigator |
Officer Bobby Welborn |
685-7125 |
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