Most day-to-day police work involves routine aiding and protecting the public. Unfortunately, a small percentage of crimes involves violent suspects using lethal weapons against innocent victims. These dangerous life-threatening situations demand a different type of response to resolve the conflicts in a safe and timely manner. The responding officers must have special training and equipment to complete the mission. When public safety is threatened by armed felons, the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) sends in the the Mobile Emergency Response Group and Equipment (MERGE) Unit.
On call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the MERGE Unit is a team of highly-trained officers with specialized skills and equipment. The team supports patrol officers and other units, such as the Bomb Unit, Canine (K9) Unit, Metro, and the Bureau of Investigations, in high-risk operations. These undertakings can include the apprehension of violent criminals, dignitary protection, special events, critical incidents (acts of violence, riots, major catastrophes, hostage situations, etc.), high-risk search warrants, and unusual crime problems.
"When not working on a specific case, operation, or training, MERGE officers are expected to assist patrol on priority weapons calls and conduct street enforcement with a focus on self initiated felony arrests," comments Lieutenant Jeff Profio (MERGE, K9, Bomb Unit, BFO Special Operations). "A secondary function is to assist the Bureau of Investigations with covert surveillance when the Covert Response (undercover officers) Unit is unavailable."
In addition, MERGE also provides tactical training and assistance to the units within SJPD and assists outside agencies.
MERGE officer Christopher McTiernan points out one of the challenges of serving in the unit, "It's definitely a family commitment to be in this unit. The scheduling can be challenging because we're always on call. The majority of our schedules are based on when detectives outside our unit need warrants served and suspects apprehended. Most of the time we don't know what our day will be like until the night before. It can be challenging for guys with families."
Joining the MERGE Unit
Because the MERGE Unit operates in extremely dangerous situations, the requirements for joining the unit are high. Positions become available once a year and an officer must have at least three years of service at SJPD before applying. Along with the application, the candidate must submit three SJPD self-initiated felony arrest reports. Also the officer must have twelve or more months of continuous assignment on patrol (Bureau of Field Operations), and have a response time of arriving at the Police and Communications (PAC) building from his/her residence in an hour or less.
After the application is accepted, the candidate goes through a series of tests, including: rifle and pistol shooting assessment, obstacle-course physical fitness assessment, scenario-based decision making assessment, a written examination, and an oral board examination.
Once a candidate is accepted into the MERGE Unit, his/her length of duty is four years.
The History of MERGE
The 1960s brought much social change to America. The combination of a growing population and the unrest of the times produced a rise in crime in San Jose.
Chief of Police Ray Blackmoore appointed Captain Bill Brown to form a specialized unit with highly-trained officers to proactively arrest law violators. This unit became known as the "H-Cars" or "H-Units." The "H" was not an abbreviation for anything, it was only a designation. Retired Lieutenant Bob Moir recalled, "We had no other designation that could be used in a radio dispatch. We had Traffic cars (T-Cars), Juvenile cars (J-Cars) and other cars that had designators in front of their radio call letters. For two weeks, we temporarily used the term 'Q-Cars.' But, it caused confusion in the radio broadcasts because the Sunnyvale Police Department was already using "Q" as a designator. Since 'H' was available, the SJPD went with 'H.'"
On March 4, 1962, the first H-Units began patrolling San Jose. Each unit comprised of two-officers in an unmarked patrol vehicle. H-Unit officers were hand-selected for their police skills and tenacity in apprehending criminals. The assignment became one of the most coveted in the department because only the most capable officers had the opportunity to work in the H-Units.
The H-Units established themselves as an effective crime-fighting team. However, riots, sniper attacks and other violent events across the nation made it clear that there was a need for a group of specially trained and equipped officers, able to respond to unusually dangerous incidents. In May 1973, Captain Bill Brown converted the H-Units to create the Mobile Emergency Response Group and Equipment (MERGE) unit. The newly-formed unit adopted tactical strategies from the U.S. military and agencies such as the Los Angeles Police Department's S.W.A.T. team.
The MERGE name originated when Deputy Chief Bill McKenzie sent a note to Lieutenant Moir, suggesting M.E.R.G. (Manpower Emergency Resource Group) for the team. McKenzie wanted to stay away from the S.W.A.T. designation to distinguish the SJPD unit from other S.W.A.T. teams. Bob Moir modified McKenzie's suggestion to characterize more of what the team did and came up with MERGE.
Photo in the background shows the SJPD H-Units by City Hall in 1963,
MERGE Training
When encountering dangerous situations, MERGE officers must to be able to react appropriately and instinctually to save lives. Training is the key to the effectiveness of MERGE. New officers go through around 250 hours of basic training encompassing the fundamentals of MERGE tactics and then, additional training covering specialized equipment.
Throughout a MERGE officer's four-year assignment, there are 10 hours of weekly training to keep up basic skills, learn advanced tactics, and acquire skills on how to operate special equipment. MERGE officers also attend several courses and training conferences outside the department.
Reflections on MERGE work
Every officer's experience in MERGE is unique, but all have found the the involvement rewarding. MERGE Officer Christopher McTiernan describes his experience in the MERGE Unit. "Early on in my career with SJPD, I was very fortunate to be exposed to the MERGE Unit. I was able to see the specialty equipment, the vehicles they had, and I watched them train. I even participated in some of the training scenarios with them. I saw their team dynamic and how they interacted with each other. I was so impressed by them that I thought, 'Wow, I want to be a part of this.' But, what’s especially unique about MERGE, as opposed to another agency’s SWAT unit, is that MERGE is a full-time team. This means that all the hours we work are dedicated to SWAT work. Whether it’s: our own training, training other units and officers, the warrant services, apprehensions or call outs, and various other special operations such as dignitary protections and site security. With San Jose being such a big city, we have a busy detective bureau that brings us a steady stream of casework and warrant services. It’s a lot of fun having such a high operational tempo, being exposed to so many kinds of cases and tactics.
"In the MERGE Unit, everyone has their own personality but still like-minded at the same time. It’s a lot of fun. Every call-out that we go to is like a puzzle we have to solve. Everyone has just a piece of puzzle and everyone puts the pieces together for the collective benefit of the team. It’s super cool to be a part of."
"The MERGE Unit has changed considerably since its inception in 1973. Tactics and technology are constantly evolving, and with that the MERGE Unit does the same, MERGE has conducted many successful hostage rescues and takes pride in the accomplishment of successful operations." — Lieutenant Jeff Profio
Credits:
John Reinert, Brook Dain, Curt Fukuda, and Parker Photography