Photo By 1st Lt. Brianne Roudebush | A California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force ground tactical team members...... read more read more
As the team plans for an upcoming mission and reviews the operations order, a Ventura County Sheriff’s deputy pops his head into the office.
“Do you guys have time?” He asks. “It doesn’t have to be now, but sometime today can we discuss an op for [reconnaissance]?”
Another mission added to the board. It’s shaping up to be a busy week and it’s only Tuesday.
“The guys here are always busy,” Master Sgt. Michael Boteilho, the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force noncommissioned officer in charge of the Los Angeles district, said. “This mission board is never empty.”
The team, comprised of four CDTF ground tactical team members and two analysts, is embedded in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
Typically, CDTF ground tactical teams work out of a centralized location and support law enforcement agencies as needed. However, in 2013, VCSO requested to have personnel specifically embedded in their office full-time.
“In my opinion, it’s extremely beneficial for us to have them embedded because the cases we are working evolve minute-to-minute or hour-to-hour,” Sgt. Jason Hendren with VCSO Special Crimes Unit, said. “It’s a force multiplier; we are able to accomplish a whole lot more with just a few more bodies.”
One ground tactical team member who has worked with VCSO since 2016 recalls working on much smaller cases when he first started.
“We called them ‘weed tips,’” he said. “Basically, things the deputies didn’t want to do but were obligated to work regardless of whether they thought it was worth their time.”
He said several of those tips ended up becoming cases the team worked. The results of those cases boosted the team’s credibility and enabled them to gain the deputies’ trust. After that, the team was given cases of increasing responsibility and importance and each time, they stepped up.
“They know how methodical we are about it, we never get complacent and we do it by the book,” he said.
Over the last few years, more teams within the sheriff’s office have reached out to CDTF for their assistance on cases with a drug nexus including the gang unit and the major crimes bureau, who work longer, high-profile cases.
Boteilho said it’s important to maintain those standards with highly competent Soldiers and Airmen because of the unique relationship in that office.
“I’m real big on keeping the professionalism and knowing who we are,” Boteilho said. “Nobody here has the mentality that they are a pseudo cop; they know what they do, they know their left and right limits and the keep their military bearing. We are not here to pretend we’re narc officers. We are National Guard Soldiers.”
In testament to that professionalism and competency, three former CDTF members embedded in that office have now become VCSO deputies.
“It actually means a lot,” Hendren said. “I was very proud of them and it just shows the caliber of people that CDTF has been able to bring into the unit here.”
In addition to supporting VCSO case work with reconnaissance and analysis, the CDTF team also trains with the deputies. VCSO provides urban operations training to the ground tactical team and in return, CDTF provides rural reconnaissance training to the deputies.
“The way I look at it, when it comes to urban reconnaissance, [the deputies] do it for a living,” Boteilho said. “So even though we have some training in that area through the military, I always look to them as the subject matter experts. But when we go out into the [national forests], they look to us – for the land navigation, the movement, tactically crossing terrain.”
Hendren piggy-backed off that, adding that VCSO also conducts scenario-based training so “they understand our tactics and we understand theirs.”
Hendren and Boteilho said the relationship between VCSO and CDTF is synergistic and both agencies benefit from it.
They recalled a recent case where utilizing the CDTF analyst saved VCSO money in overtime, allowing them to extend the case and indict more drug traffickers.
Hendren said having the analysts embedded in the agency has been a huge asset.
“It’s something we don’t have,” he said. “We have crime analysts, but we don’t have analysts that are able to provide what the Guard is able to provide.”
The years of working side-by-side in the same office has enabled CDTF to tailor their support to the agency’s needs. When CDTF first embedded with VCSO, their main focus was maritime observation – detecting illegal drug transport vessels off the coast of the county. As threats evolved, the team transitioned to rural reconnaissance and combating illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands. Now, they focus on urban reconnaissance and case analysis.
Boteilho said that’s the biggest difference in the VCSO office.
“The teams that are not embedded are supporting several different agencies,” he said. “So, while they’re competent at their jobs, they just don’t have the same relationship built.”
The CDTF ground tactical team leader also emphasized the relationship-building aspect, adding “it feels like we’re actually part of the team.”
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2020 16:01 |
| Story ID: | 364480 |
| Location: | VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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