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February 20 - DET. PABLO ARRIAGA III: Lifetime of Service for District 5 of San Antonio Willie
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January 19 - Learning "Malgoverno" With MANNY PELAEZ (San Antonio City Councilman, Dist. 8) Blu Wolf
Fierce Conversation.
Fierce Conversation.
About
Willie is a retired career law enforcement officer with over 33 years of service with the San Antonio Police Department, most of which was spent in active service in specialized units. Starting as a patrol officer, he quickly found his way to the Special Weapons and Tactical unit (SWAT) where he spent 17 years. After that he was assigned to the Repeat Offenders Program (ROP) for 3 years before being promoted to detective and joining the ROP unit as a covert detective.
Willie has often said that a dramatic event that occurred in 1991 was one of the best experiences he could have had to launch his career and place him where he is today. He was a very young patrolman with only 1 1/2 years on the job when he was shot by a car thief he discovered performing his duties as apartment security. The suspect ran and Willie gave chase. As Willie caught up to him, the suspect had a handgun in his waistband. The suspect turned, pulled the weapon from his waistband, and shot Willie 3 times recklessly from his hip. By the grace of God none of the bullets hit anything vital. He was hit in his shoulder, chest and leg.
It took Willie 4 months to fully recover from the shooting and from the surgery that followed. After 2 months, Willie went back to work in a light duty capacity, and he was assigned to the full-time Special Weapons and Tactics unit while he healed from his wounds. It was at this time that the other members of the SWAT team got to know Willie and observed his tenacity for getting better and back into shape. After 2 months, he went back to patrol duty for 2 yrs. until there were a couple of openings on the elite SWAT unit. At the encouragement of some of the SWAT members he got to know he was asked to apply and try out for the unit. Willie made the team with only three years as a patrolman which began his active and exciting career.
As a full-time member of the SWAT unit, Willie was involved in high-risk operations, including numerous no-knock narcotics and arrest warrants, violent suspect takedowns, and critical incident call outs. Willie learned from the experienced members of the team and learned to perform his duties under high pressure situations. He was lucky enough to attend some of the best tactical training at the time which he used to train other members of the team and other police officers inside and outside of the department. Another incident, in 2005, also shaped his experience and gave him a unique perspective in law enforcement: when he had to use deadly force on a murder suspect and hostage taker who was handcuffed to the suspect’s ex-wife.
After 17 years in SWAT, Willie was involuntarily assigned back to patrol for 2 years. Although Willie had not been on patrol for 17 years, many of his friends were still there. Due to his experience and the officers knowing his capabilities, he was often asked many times to help train them in tactics and in firearms. It was at this time that he decided to start a small tactical training business called Street Sense Tactical Training, LLC which he owns to this day.
After 2 years, Willie was asked by supervisors of the Repeat Offenders Program (ROP) to apply for a patrolman’s position within the covert unit. Willie was quickly selected to support the covert detectives as uniform presence and patrol uses in apprehensions and takedowns. Willie spent three years as a patrolman within the ROP unit when he saw his opportunity to possibly go back to the unit as a covert detective as there was an opening coming up. He passed the detectives exam and was quickly promoted to detective and was able to stay at the ROP unit as a detective. As a covert detective Willie faced another challenge, not only did he have to plan for tactics to execute arrest warrants and narcotics warrants, but he was also responsible for beginning the investigation and following up with filing charges for the district attorney’s office. This made the job even more challenging. Even at the ROP unit he was tasked with tactically training the covert detectives he worked with as well as the other detectives and patrolmen assigned to different shifts.
Willie has often said that the pinnacle of a patrolman’s rank was the SWAT unit, and the pinnacle of the detective’s rank was the ROP unit. His police experience has given him a unique perspective on modern policing. He believes that the kinder and gentler approach to law enforcement has only made the job more dangerous for today’s officers. The role of a police officer is to serve and protect society and this can only be achieved by being proactive not reactive.
From young age, Willie learned just how dangerous a law enforcement career could be, so he decided that taking an aggressive approach and learning the job well as well as possible was more beneficial than being conservative. His dedication to the job even after being wounded in a shooting is admirable and inspiring to many other law enforcement officers. Willie’s career highlights the importance of learning from every incident to improve oneself as a law enforcement officer. His unique perspective on law enforcement highlights a need to evaluate the strategies that are currently in place and adopt more proactive approaches to protect both law enforcement officers and the public.
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