SWATmembers–andcanine–sharpentheirskills
Training exercise for Yuba City’s unit
Here was the scenario on Wednesday: There was a bank robbery; two suspects fled and took refuge in a home in the 900 block of Bridge Street and it was unknown to officers whether it was a house belonging to one of the robbers or to an unsuspecting resident.
It was just a Yuba City SWAT team training exercise. Here’s how it went down:
The team set up a perimeter around the home, members outfitted in bulletproof gear and equipped with tactical tools, including shields, door prying bars, and “simunition guns” that look and act like real ones, but shoot a soft paint projectile instead of a bullet. (The gear can weigh 60 to 80 pounds.)
As the exercise unfolded, SWAT team members learned there were two hostages inside, one suspect was making “unreasonable demands” and the front door was barricaded.
After scrawling the layout of the home on a neighboring garage door, SWAT officers took their time in planning how to safely enter the home without harming the hostages or themselves.
SWAT team leader Lt. Jim Runyen said the 14-member team goes through 15-18 training days per year and responds to “high-risk, low frequency calls.”
“The ultimate goal is to save lives,” Runyen said.
One hostage was able to escape the home through a back window – the cadet assigned to that role was Ben Halpin, a recent Sutter Union High School graduate hoping to one day become a Yuba City police offi- cer.
“You get to see what law enforcement is like,” Halpin said, clutching a protective mask during the training. “I think it will help me when I do it, having seen it before.”
The remaining three cadets
has been issued an annual license to operate while the details of a longer agreement are worked out. YCWA began its relicensing process in November 2010.
The most recent milestone the agency reached was when it filed an amended final license application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – the entity that issues licenses – earlier this month.
“We are really pleased that we were able to reach these settlement agreements with stakeholders for many of the terms and conditions – about 30 or so,” Aikens said. “We now have a plan, we have cost certainty and we know when it needs to be done.”
Aikens said the license application basically highlights what the agency plans on doing throughout the Yuba River Development Project over the term of the new license.
Some of the most notable proposed changes would be a new auxiliary spillway, improvements and upgrades to recreational facilities around New Bullards Bar Reser- voir, new in-stream flow requirements in the upper watershed and rebuilding outdated campgrounds to bring them up to current standards, among a variety of other things.
“The AFLA (amended final license agreement) is a major step in the process. There are several very significant steps that still need to be completed to move forward,” Aikens said. “Once FERC issues a new license, they expect you to make a majority of the improvements in three to five years.”
In preparation, the agency has set aside $120 million in reserve to be used on implementing the projects in the first several years of a new license.
Now that the amended final license application has been submitted, FERC will review it to see if it meets its guidelines. At that point, FERC would start the environmental documentation process that allows stakeholders an opportunity to review and make any necessary comments. YCWA will then have 30 to 45 days to review and make comments.
“That’s the body of information FERC takes and looks at for its consideration in issuing a new license,” Aikens said.