Tales of the Stakeout Squad

[11B10]

May also want to listen to Mas interviewing Bill Allard about his days with Jim Cirillo on the NYC Stakeout Unit.

JohnO - thanks for providing the link to this interview. Bill Allard, along with his died-entirely-too-young partner, Jim Cirillo - were invaluable resources for us. Thank God there are written and recorded links to their modern day gunfighter lives - engaging killers time after time. Not only did they prevail, they were totally willing to share the invaluable knowledge they gained through those encounters.
The old adage is true: "There is no substitute for experience."

[blues]

Fast forward to 14.30 to see the portion with Cirillo:

[lwt16]

.

I think most of us LEOs can think of situations where "there, but for the grace of God, go I".

Oh yeah....bunch of times.

Learned more from my mistakes than my successes. Always tried to not repeat them and sharpen up over the years. Been on the job since 96 and still sign up for classes on my own time to improve. It's the sort of job where you never stop learning and evolving into a better version of who you were yesterday.

[serialsolver]

As a general question, does the book address the situation/conditions which caused the NYPD to create the Stakeout Squad?

The book, Target Blue by Robert Daly is a good read about the nypd during the time of the stake out squad. It is heavy on the police administration side (politics) but a good look on inside. Also some in-depth information about some major investigations like the parent organization of blm, the black liberation army.


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[jlw]

The stakeout squads as discussed in this book, as well as the book about the Dallas shotgun squad which Lee mentioned above, are interesting as a glimpse back to how things were done for a period of time.

I don't know how widely spread such squads were, but I know they existed outside of NY and Dallas. I've heard tale of one in Atlanta or DeKalb County; the details escape me.

Macon, GA, had a mayor named "Machine Gun Ronnie" Thompson who was known for his exploits. I have not been able to find documentation, but he supposedly put out the word that any Macon PD officer who killed an armed robber would get a trip to Jamaica on the city's dime. Such a statement is very consistent with other documented actions.

I suspect that word of what was happening in NY and Dallas spread through the copvine, but those other cities just never got books written about them.

I just may have deployed such units when we had a crew hitting convenience stores and restaurants.

[blues]

@jlw

I'll be happy to read the chronicle when the time is right. It reads like sound police work to me.

And I agree, there's lots of stuff that doesn't make the news headlines...or even get much fanfare outside of the unit conducting the op. (And thankfully so, imho.)

Same can be said for setting up stings and ops on narcotics cases...bringing in successively larger fish after an initial seizure and arrest...or what I liked to refer to as "Dialing For Dopers".

[DC_P]

Macon, GA, had a mayor named "Machine Gun Ronnie" Thompson who was known for his exploits. I have not been able to find documentation, but he supposedly put out the word that any Macon PD officer who killed an armed robber would get a trip to Jamaica on the city's dime. .

Ahh, the good old days...

[jlw]

@jlw

I'll be happy to read the chronicle when the time is right. It reads like sound police work to me.

And I agree, there's lots of stuff that doesn't make the news headlines...or even get much fanfare outside of the unit conducting the op. (And thankfully so, imho.)

Same can be said for setting up stings and ops on narcotics cases...bringing in successively larger fish after an initial seizure and arrest...or what I liked to refer to as "Dialing For Dopers".

The neighboring counties were had a take over robbery crew hitting convenience stores and restaurants. I deployed personnel in unmarked cars and them "staking out" possible targets in our county. I announced that we were doing so with the provision that we would continue until the perpetrators were caught "or otherwise dealt with". They stayed out of our county.

I rolled with a shorty 870 loaded with FFC and a shorty 590 loaded with Brenecke slugs. The shotties were turned opposite of each other in the two-gun rack in my truck so that I could tell them apart by feel in the dark.

[blues]

The neighboring counties were had a take over robbery crew hitting convenience stores and restaurants. I deployed personnel in unmarked cars and them "staking out" possible targets in our county. I announced that we were doing so with the provision that we would continue until the perpetrators were caught "or otherwise dealt with". They stayed out of our county.

I rolled with a shorty 870 loaded with FFC and a shorty 590 loaded with Brenecke slugs. The shotties were turned opposite of each other in the two-gun rack in my truck so that I could tell them apart by feel in the dark.

Ironic.

You succeeded by keeping the bad guys away (or otherwise dealt with).

We succeeded by luring them into the trap (and jumping them from our "staked out" / secreted positions...whether adjoining rooms, vehicles, UC sites etc).

There are many ways to skin a cat. It's always heartening when the good guys get a win for the team. I think I'd have enjoyed working cases with you and your officers.

[42Willys]

@blues having taken gunfighting classes taught by ljw I can pretty much guarantee working with him would be the bees knees.