Sergeant Duane Wachtelborn and Officer Josh McFall represent the Pacifica Police Department on a joint SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team comprised of members belonging to a variety of county law enforcement agencies.
The officers annually log more than 100 hours of SWAT activity, consisting of both training and actual operations. The team is often used on high-risk search warrants where it assists other agencies such as the FBI and INS with securing the residences or locations of suspects who have violent histories.
Training and skill development remain at the forefront of the SWAT team. Sgt. Wachtelborn is the team’s resident K9 handler. Sgt. Wachtelborn and Ofc. McFall also regularly attend advanced SWAT courses and training, which often include joint exercises with other SWAT teams, tactical dispatchers and hostage negotiation team members.
Pacifica Police K9 Tiger is also an integral part of the SWAT team. He has gone on every deployment and is often used to sweep the buildings entered by the team to make sure that no one hiding is missed. This is different from his normal patrol searching, using more equipment and requiring Tiger to often respond to only hand signals. Tiger is also equipped with a stab/bullet resistant vest, which he wears on all deployments. Tiger is the only K9 with regular standing on a SWAT team in San Mateo County.
The newest member of the team, Officer Josh McFall joined SWAT in November 2008. McFall is a Detective currently assigned to the REACT task force.
