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Pasadena Police, U.S. State Dept. Sign Partnership Agreement

Pasadena Police Join Forces With State Department to Combat Drugs

Published on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 | 4:01 pm
 
Pasadena Police Sergeant Ed Calatayud [Pasadena Now File Photo]

 

[Updated July 25, 2012 | 8:10 p.m.] At a special event at city hall Wednesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William R. Brownfield joined Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip L. Sanchez in signing a Memorandum of Understanding to partner the two agencies in cooperative missions which will see local officers serving overseas.

The agreement enables the State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Agency to deploy active Pasadena police officers to train, advice and mentor law enforcement personnel in foreign countries.

“We have learned it important for us and our ability to continue to work these programs with foreign law enforcement communities in the future,” Brownfield said “There is nothing more important than having a relationship with those city police departments that are willing to offer their experience, their talent set, and their personnel for these types of programs overseas.”

Brownfield said that what happens overseas has a direct impact on local communities in the U.S. He said that in the past the federal government has solely used federal agents such as FBI, DEA, and ICE personnel. He added that, in the last 10 to fifteen years, federal authorities have learned it is essential to use municipal police departments to perform classic police work.

“At the end of the day, what we are looking for is a situation in which everyone wins,” said Brownfield. “A foreign government and its police department win because they have access to the knowledge and talent of a U.S. big city police department. I win because I have a very talented pool of officers that I can draw from to deploy. Finally, the Police Department of Pasadena wins because it develops both the experience and contacts and networks overseas. This is a partnership that will deliver dividends for years and years to come.”

Chief Sanchez said the “relationship with the State Department really underscores reaching out, not only locally, but internationally. The officer we selected this time around was Sergeant Calatayud, in part because he is a dedicated police sergeant and because he is a 24-year veteran of the department.”

Brownfield also commended Pasadena Police Sergeant Ed Calatayud for his work in Jamaica. He explained that only about a year ago the police in Jamaica essentially lost control of nearly 80 percent of the capital city of Kingston to drug cartels.

“What Sergeant Calatayud did was assess what the current starting point is for the Jamaica Police Department,” Brownfield detailed. “He was able to help them deal with the challenge they faced with non-lethal use of force and assess how their basic procedures compared with the international procedures.

“Not only Jamaica and the Department of State, but also the Pasadena Police Department and the city of Pasadena, have all benefited from the deployment of a very talented Pasadena police officer to Jamaica,” Brownfield said. “He was able to offer them the experience a major U.S. police department in dealing with basic fundamental police work and, in the process, he undoubtedly developed some contacts and some knowledge and information that is going to facilitate him and his police department in dealing with Caribbean-based challenges for years to come.”

The State Department pays the salaries of state and local officers while they are deployed.

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