Riding Along With Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police

An assault and battery, an innocent vehicle stop, a homeless person outside Safeway and an unidentified man reporting a south-bound speeding black car stopping along the Highway 17 center divider, north of Highway 9.

Those were the major incidents reported during a recent Friday evening ride-along with officer Greg Borromeo.

It's supposed to be one of the busiest times for the department, thanks to activity generated from the downtown drinking establishments, Borromeo, 26, said.

Dspatchers receive a medical aid call from Double D's Sports Grille. The caller said someone had fallen and hit his head. Firefighters were originally dispatched, but police learned that battery had been involved, meaning someone had purposely hit the man.

By the time officers arrive, the suspect had already left, and the victim had been transported to El Camino Hospital to be treated for a cut on the head.

The night progresses, and the downtown crowd starts to change. Early in the evening, families eat dinner at popular restaurants, but by about 10 p.m., a much younger, out-of-town group starts pouring into town from San Jose, Gilroy, Milpitas, Morgan Hill and even the Central Valley, Borromeo said.

Several establishments play music  and have live entertainment, such as Number One Broadway, Mountain Charley's, Los Gatos Bar and Grill, Carrie Nations, Black Watch, C.B. Hannigan and Tommy's, all offering alcohol to its patrons.

Presiding over Borromeo and four other officers during the 6:40 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift is Los Gatos Monte Sereno police Sgt. Michael D'Antonio. 

Prior to boarding Borromeo's Ford police interceptor, a smooth-driving Crown Victoria, we meet at the department's Operations Center, 15900 Los Gatos Blvd., which houses the patrol division. The center contains an evidence-processing room, temporary holding cells, an interview room and a large briefing room that can be used as a command center. Suspects under the influence of any controlled substance or violent are taken to the Santa Clara County Jail on Hedding Street in San Jose, Borromeo said.

Most commanding inside Borromeo's vehicle is a loaded Remington 870 shotgun, a mobile data terminal computer linked to the police dispatch center and a digital in-car camera, which starts recording with certain triggers, such as when the so-called "Code-3" lights go off to respond to an emergency call. The camera also starts automatically recording when an officer is involved in a vehicle pursuit exceeding 90 mph or if an officer is involved in an accident. The car also has a mounted infrared camera next to the driver's side that allows night vision in dark parts of town. 

Borromeo, who lives in San Jose and grew up in Campbell, began his work with the department in 2005 as a community service officer intern. He was attending San Jose State University studying criminal justice, which allowed him to work for the department 20 hours a week. He handled cold calls of burglaries with no suspect information or cases in which there was no threat of suspects on the scene.

He attended the San Jose Police Academy for six months and completed four months of field training with the LGMSPD. After he finished his degree, he applied for a full-time position as a patrol officer. He began to patrol solo at the end of 2007.

"It's a safe community ... but the danger is there," Borromeo said as he drives around town looking for unusual activity.

He said the most interesting call he's attended to was a fight call with bats. "Nothing is really routine or simple; there's always something different," he said.

We drive into , which requires Borromeo to report it to dispatch. The department provides 80 hours a week of patrolling services to the 1 1/2-square-mile, all-residential city of about 3,000 residents.

We then visit the town's dispatch center located at Town Hall and meet Mary Lasher and Mark Harper, who alternate as call taker and dispatcher. They're among several other employees who work at the department's communication's center.

Tonight, Lasher is working as dispatcher and Harper is working as call taker. Upon receiving a call that requires police attention, Harper quickly types the information into a computer, and she's the voice officers hear on the radio. Lasher and Harper will work 10-12-hour shifts.

"It's a great job," says Harper, who's been on the job for about a year. 

Lasher has been a dispatcher for about 15 years, 10 years with the department. "Every day is different ... I don't think I would want to be a 911 dispatcher in the same town I live in," said the Morgan Hill resident. 

Borromeo described their work as extremely valuable, because both give officers information in real time that can be lifesaving.

"I've got four guys that I want to get home tonight," Lasher said. "I'll do everything I can on my end to make sure they're safe to where they're going. That means finding out what they're walking into, what kind of situation, and if there are weapons involved."

Lasher and Harper said they work on a worst-case scenario and stay in that mode until they know the officers are safe. Both rely on detailed town maps to know exactly where the officers are going, and they're checking background information on every incident, from whether officers have been in certain locations before, to whether there have been problems reported at the locations they're entering.

There is no set schedule for Borromeo to take a break, so he rests whenever he can. He doesn't punch out for lunch. He tries to find time to eat between calls, and often, as he's about to grab a bite, a call comes in that requires him to put down his food and get back to work. "Our goal is to make this town as safe as possible."