ON THE BEAT WITH EL CAJON COP

Officer experiences the changes in policing and contacts made on the street seen across the country

The alarm hadn’t yet rung. Officer Amber Bolton didn’t need it.

She woke on her own, around 1:30 in the morning.

In two hours, she was due at El Cajon police headquarters. Soon after, she needed to persuade a young man in a nearby home to walk outside before a SWAT team broke down the door.

Policing in the United States has undergone major changes in recent years.

High-profile killings by cops in Missouri, Minnesota and other states increased pressure to decrease physical force. A series of officer suicides in New York pushed departments to expand mental health support.

The number of homeless people is up. So are school shootings. And fires.

Many of those changes can be seen in the career of one officer in East County’s largest city.

On July 14, Bolton pulled out of her home in Ramona for another 12hour shift.

It was technically Thursday, yet felt like Friday: Her shift was the last of a three-day cycle.

The 41-year-old is one of the El Cajon Police Department’s only women. Out of more than 120 officers, 108 are men.

Bolton arrived at headquarters before sunrise and entered a briefing room.

The plan was simple: Serve a warrant. Search the home. Maybe arrest an 18-year-old man suspected of robbery.

The operation had been organized by the San Diego Police Department, but they wanted Bolton’s help.

For years, Bolton has been a crisis negotiator, a title that required 40 hours of FBI classes and followup training every quarter.

Assignments were often sprung last minute. She’d only heard about this one the day before.

Around 5 a.m., more than a dozen officers gathered outside a line of homes on Vermont Court.

Bolton was parked nearby, in an armored vehicle known as a Bearcat.

It’s not a given that you can get people on the phone. Landlines are often nonexistent, and Bolton’s had to negotiate with people by text and on social media.

This time she at least had a number. Bolton dialed. A woman picked up, groggy from sleep.

“This is Amber from El Cajon PD,” Bolton recalled saying. (She’s found using her first name triggers less panic.) “We have a search warrant for your residence and we’d like it if you guys could come out.”

Bolton outlined what needed to

Recalling when she decided to pursue law enforcement NELVIN C. CEPEDA U-T Officer Amber Bolton rolls out for her daily patrol shift on Aug. 10. A veteran of 16 years at the department, she said she had not really considered pursuing a career as an officer until she worked as a civilian security guard at Granite Hills High.