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While Suffolk residents are accustomed to seeing police officers on the scene through traffic and crime situations, there’s more to being a police officer than meets the eye.

Suffolk Police Department’s Ancillary Unit offers various roles where officers serve the city and keep their community safe, including the Underwater Search and Recovery (USR), Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and K-9 units. To highlight the three units, SPD Marine Patrol Unit and Underwater Search and Recovery Unit Sgt. Paul Helvestine, SPD Drone Team Commander Capt. Matthew Faubion and SPD Master Police Officer Shane Sukowaski each discussed their unit operations, the technology and techniques they use, and the traits they look for in future officers.

By Sky

The Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) is used to support the SWAT team during the execution of search warrants. Faubion says the UAS provides an eye in the sky, giving SPD a visual of all angles of the targeted structure, ensuring no one can escape undetected. 

“So we provide overwatch for them just to look at the residence that is being hit by the SWAT team, just to record the whole thing and just make sure if anybody tries to flee out of it, we can watch what they’re doing,” Faubion says.

Faubion says the drones are also used extensively in search and rescue operations and is called on to assist neighboring cities like Virginia Beach.

“So anytime we have something like a missing juvenile or like a dementia patient or something that walks away from a residence, we can put the drone team up for that,” he said. “We also use the drone team heavily in other jurisdictions, both for search and rescue operations and for SWAT operations as well. We have gone most frequently to Virginia Beach a lot to help them with their search and rescue operations.”

Faubion says those wanting to be a drone team member must pass an online class that gives them the knowledge for the Part 107 test, which SPD currently operates under. He also details that training is done every month. 

“If we get a new piece of technology or gear, we train everybody up on that, otherwise we try to focus on things that have been issued in the past and we try to correct whatever those are so we’ll work better the next time,” Faubion said. 

Along with having Matrice 200, Enterprise, and other mini drones, Faubion detailed that the team was working with an M30T, the team’s larger and primary drone they operate with.

“It has multiple cameras and sensors built into it. Primarily, it has a zoom camera, a wide-angle camera, and then a thermal camera built into it. And that’s the primary drone that we use for overwatch, or for the search and rescue,” he said. “All the individual operators or supervisors that are on the team, are either issued the Mini3 drones or the Avadas, and then we also still have some of our older drones as back ups or for doing something that requires multiple larger drones be up in place.”

By Sea

Underwater Search and Recovery is a 10-diver unit, each engaging in search and recovery for vehicles as well as pieces of evidence and deceased individuals. 

“We are more of a recovery rather than a rescue when it comes to diving, looking for items or persons. The other thing that we do, all of our members are Swiftwater Rescue Technicians,” Helvestine said. “So during Hurricane Matthew a few years ago when Suffolk flooded very [badly], the dive team – because we were certified – responded with inflatable rafts and/or jon boats and went through the high water to rescue people from their cars and/or their houses when the flooding was very bad during the storm.”

Helvestine says that different techniques are used based on each search’s scope for recovery and search missions that divers have to conduct. He also detailed making sure their divers are safe in their searches.

“We make sure that all of our divers are on the same page, as far as what the plan of the search is. We do safety checks every 20 minutes to make sure that the divers have air while they’re in the water, and then every 20 minutes they surface and provide their air reading. We don’t want them to run out of air,” he says. “Fatigue is another concern. Every so often, we will – regardless of their air or their capacity – we will change out divers because of fatigue. So there’s many things, and there’s standards that are being pushed through in the last couple years to prevent any hazards from occurring while on a dive operation.”

Helvestine notes that every diver is certified through open water dive certification, which everybody can obtain as a citizen or a public safety diver. He also detailed some of the gear and technology the unit uses in their work.

“We also use full-face masks. That way, we don’t have contamination because normally a mouth piece would be in your mouth and then you could have contaminated water that could enter your mouth or nose. So we have full-face masks,” Helvestine said. “We also use drysuits, that way for the exposure, [if] we’re diving in a very dirty retention pond or ditch or a lake, we don’t have issues or concerns with contamination of the skin or open cuts. So when our divers are in the water, they’re fully encapsulated. That way there is no exposure.”

Helvestine also discussed the team’s working relationship with the Port of Virginia, which has provided yearly grants for the dive team’s new gear. Helvestine calls them a “great partner.”

“Because the Port of Virginia is so large and has a lot of revenue coming in and out, they want to make sure that the partners that they work with, whether it be our Marine Patrol or our Dive Teams, that they are outfitted to the best that they can be,” he said. “So that way if they need assistance on their end, we can already be ready and have everything we need to assist them, just like they assist us with replacing our gear occasionally.”

By Land

The Suffolk Police Department’s K9 unit’s primary daily function is to support other SPD divisions, assist Uniform Patrol as backup on service calls and traffic stops, patrol the city, respond to alarm calls, and much more.

“They are often called upon to track subjects who have fled on foot from officers, or to locate evidence thrown by suspects while they were fleeing from officers. Narcotics detection teams assist officers on traffic stops with narcotics sweeps of vehicles or parcels at the request of officers,” Sukowaski said. “When the department’s new explosives detection teams are certified they will be utilized to conduct sweeps for explosive materials in response to bomb threats and assist in locating firearms thrown or hidden by suspects.”

A K-9 officer’s job isn’t over when their shift ends. As Sukowaski notes, their canine partners also reside with the officers at home. 

“…they are responsible for caring for their partners 24 hours of the day to include feeding, grooming, medical visits, kennel cleaning, and exercising,” he said. “They are also often called out when off duty if there is a need for a K9 team when one is not currently on duty in Suffolk or surrounding areas for mutual aid.”

Sukowaski details that the unit purchases the dogs from a vendor who imports them from Europe, noting that they are bred specifically for their role. He also details the unit spending a full day evaluating the available dogs that the vendor has. Sukowaski also discussed the deep bond between the officers and their canine partners, calling them “family members.”

“Many handlers come to this position because of their love for animals and have grown up having a dog or multiple dogs. The bond and relationship that you develop with your partner is so much more than that of the average pet,” Sukowaski says. “When your partner retires it is like leaving a piece of who you are at home, even after getting a new partner.”

Sukowaski talked about the physical demand that comes from their training, detailing that each handler has to fill the role of decoy wearing a bite suit to help facilitate the training of apprehension work.

“They will set tracks for the other teams across varying terrain no matter the weather of the day. Decoys will hide in any number of locations to simulate situations that may be presented while searching for suspects. Training aids will be set out in varying environments and scenarios to ensure the accuracy of the dogs detection ability,” Sukowaski said.

Despite the physical demand for the officers and the dogs, Sukowaski notes how it is still “fun and enjoyable.”

“Every task asked of the dogs is like a game to the dogs with a reward of some sort after each task. The dogs truly enjoy the work that they do and it is apparent in their behavior as handlers arrive at regularly used training locations,” he said. “The dogs are very intelligent and require mental stimulation as well as physical exercise. The physical exercise alone is not enough to ensure the proper enrichment of the dogs’ life and handlers will train with their dogs outside of the scheduled training days to ensure this enrichment.”

On key traits that each unit is looking for in future recruits, Helvestine emphasized future dive recruits should have “the want” to do the job to endure what comes with it. Faubion says officers must be “good learners” regardless of the unit. Likewise, Sukowaski says K-9 officers should be physically capable of keeping up with working with the dogs.

“They need to be able to remain calm and have extraordinary problem solving skills in high stress situations. K9 handlers also need to be able to arrive on scene and direct others and take a leadership role as they are often looked to for direction by officers,” Sukowaski said. “There also must be an ability to interact with the public in a public speaker capacity as members of the K9 unit often perform public demonstrations and speaker requests.”

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