TEAM LEADER SWAT Team Leader of the Year
SWAT TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Continued from page 8.
PATROLMAN ROBERT HEIM Lower Providence Township, PA Police Department
W Sgt. Fred Meyer, Greeley, CO Police Department
Here are some thought prompters: im- proved training frequency; improved train- ing safety; implemented more realistic training; arranged for a larger training and equipment budget; expanded the scope of tasks the team can handle; improved the image of the team to the administration, media or public; successfully formed a re- gional team; successfully separated from a regional team; successfully started a new team; improved the tactical decision-making process; implemented national SWAT stan- dards; demonstrated true leadership in an inspiring way.
For this second year of competition, we received applicants from all over the U.S., from full-time and part-time teams, from small cities and counties to large cities and counties. The pool of applicants was narrowed down to the four finalists, and then to the single, final choice for Team Leader of the Year.
“All four of the finalists are very close, and it was tough to pick just one. Many had operational success, acts of hero- ism, and impressive achievements. All are important. That said, I think the most important traits of a Team Leader are Planning, Organizing, Coordinating, Teaching, Training, Mentoring and Pre- paring,” said Sergeant Randy Winn, who is with the Sacramento County, Calif. Sheriff’s Department. Sgt. Winn is the Vice President of the California Associa- tion of Tactical Officers (CATO), and served as the tie-breaking judge.
10 Tactical Response Winter 2015
Sergeant Fred Meyer
Greeley, CO Police Department Nominated by Lt. Adam Turk, SWAT Team Commander, Greeley Police Department, Sgt. Fred Meyer, SWAT Team Leader is the Se- curity Devices International and Tactical Re- sponse Magazine SWAT Team Leader of the Year for 2015. T e Greeley Police Department is a municipal agency about 50 miles northeast of Denver. T e City of Greeley has a popula- tion of approximately 100,000 people and has 148 sworn police offi cers. T e department’s SWAT Team is a part-time position, referred to as a collateral assignment. Sgt. Meyer is currently the Senior Team
Leader and often serves as the interim Team Commander. Sgt. Meyer was hired by the Greeley Police Department in July 1984. He immediately became a tactical leader in patrol and joined the SWAT Team as an operator in 1989. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1995 and immediately became a SWAT team leader. Sgt. Meyer is clearly the most experienced SWAT member in the his- tory of the Greeley Police Department and takes this assignment seriously. He has been responsible for coordinating the team’s train- ing for years, and constantly identifi es team needs and resources. Sgt. Meyer is a certifi ed NTOA instructor. He is considered a regional expert in the area of active shooting responses. He is a board member of RMTTA (Rocky Mountain Tacti- cal Association), serving as a mentor, resource, and instructor. Sgt. Meyer was instrumental in implementing tactical medics into the Greeley
Rob Heim is a patrolman and 15-year veteran of the Lower Providence Township, Penn. Police Department. He is currently the Team Leader for the Montgomery County SWAT Central Region Team with 12 years of tactical team experience. Heim took over as Team leader in April 2012, shortly after the Colonial SWAT team merged onto the team. At the time, the team (formally known as Central Montgomery County SWAT) had been a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team comprising officers from 11 jurisdictions. With the addition of Colonial SWAT, the team expanded to cover 14 departments. Heim was faced with many challenges as he assimilated the new team members onto the team and eventually into supervisory positions.
In August of 2014 Heim was tasked with completing another transition when the former North Penn Tactical Response Team merged onto what would now be called the Montgomery County SWAT – Central Region Team. With this latest acquisition MCSWAT – CR would now be covering 26 jurisdictions. In addition to helping the new members assimilate onto the team, Heim also had to convert their operators to a new method of entry and room clearing. He developed a plan and implemented that plan to perfection.
Continued on page 12
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68