Domestic disputes dangerous for responders
Domestic disturbance calls are some of the most frequent calls police respond to and, as the Palm Springs community learned three days ago, some of the most dangerous.
“Law enforcement officers get injured on traffic stops. Law enforcement officers get injured on pedestrian checks,” said Deputy Armando Munoz, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The RSO has suffered their own losses in the line of duty responding to such calls, losing three local deputies over the past 17 years.
Deputy Bruce Lee was beaten to death with his own baton after responding to an emotionally disturbed man attempting to break into his parents’ home in La Quinta in May of 2003.
It was a double tragedy in 1999, after Deputies James Lehmann Jr. and Michael Haugen were ambushed responding to a call in Whitewater.
“There are a lot of things that go into it, a lot of ‘what ifs,'” Deputy Munoz told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner when talking about the response to domestic disturbance calls.
“Officers are constantly weighing different factors- legal factors, tactical factors, what’s good for the community,” said Lt. Glenn Haas, of the Cathedral City Police Department.
All of those factors and ‘what ifs’ can be helped somewhat by information that officers are given by witnesses and callers.
“The public has to know, once they call and dispatchers are trying to pull info from them they are immediately feeding that back to the officers so they can make a decision. Those decisions are made for the safety of everyone concerned,” Haas said. “Accurate information is paramount.”
At the end of the day, Haas added, members of law enforcement are just people in uniform who sometimes have to make a life-changing decision; sometimes in a split second.
“Officers maintaining a cool head, trying to reduce that stress and factor through these problems in a very dynamic, fluid, stressful and sometimes life-threatening situation,” he added.
It is a reality the Palm Springs Police Department was reminded of in less than 10 minutes on Saturday.
“They are very difficult situations, and unfortunately, a situation like this one turned deadly for our officers, and this is a grave reminder of the dangers our officers face every day,” said Sgt. William Hutchinson, with the Palm Springs Police Department.
That reminder continues to grow outside the doors of the department in the form of flowers and candles, mementos and hand-written cards left in memory of Officers Lesley Zerebny and Jose Gilibert “Gil” Vega, who were shot and killed after responding to a family dispute in the 2700 block of Cypress Ave. in Palm Springs.
