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Metro's Finest
 Watch
this video clip (Real Media) Length: (5:49)
Watch this video clip (Windows Media) Length:
(5:49)
<<Sounds of MTP ceremony>>
Narrator Says:
To call them metro transit police's finest would be a very appropriate
description.
At a recent ceremony at the criminal justice training center in Burien,
King County Sheriff Sue Rahr awarded two current deputies and one former
Metro Transit sergeant for their bravery and hard work.
And it took a lot of bravery for deputy Tim Shook to earn the Lifesaver
Award.
Shook is now a deputy with Metro Transit Police, but spent 12 years as
part of the air support unit that flew Guardian One, one of Sheriff’s
office police's helicopters.
In November of 2006, Shook along with two fellow members of the Air
Support Unit, set out to find a hiker who had been missing in the
Cascades for days.
Metro Transit Deputy Tim Shook Says:
Basically down a trail and into what we call the Pratt River basin. And
that's where she was, and once she got down there, they couldn't find
her had no idea she'd gone down there apparently. The weather had turned
really, really nasty and she was just there. I think she was there for
like two days before we found her, it was quite a while.
Narrator Says:
Tim and the team spotted the hiker collapsed along the Pratt River.
In order to get to her, Deputy shook had to hover Guardian One just six
feet above the river, while sergeant Sydney Jackson jumped out onto a
boulder.
A navy helicopter eventually came and rescued the hiker with a winch.
Deputy shook says he was just part of the team.
Metro Transit Deputy Tim Shook Says:
It was teamwork all the way around. My co-pilot Mark Rockwood, he was
calling out obstacles, where we were from tree branches, and so on and
so forth. And I’m just trying to maintain the hover exactly where I want
it and where he wants me to be. And it worked out really well. It's not
something that's impossible to do, you just have to work really closely
with everybody else and bring all your skills to bear on that.
Narrator Says:
Deputy Patrick McCurdy's award was less about daring maneuvers, and more
about coming to work every day and doing his job with excellence.
As a transit police deputy, McCurdy’s job is to patrol the Downtown
Seattle Transit Tunnel, as well as areas around it, always looking out
for the safety of passengers using Metro.
His peers, supervisors, and command staff all agree that deputy McCurdy
goes above and beyond as a deputy and police trainer for the MTP.
Not only does he go the extra mile to create new training opportunities
for his fellow officers, he has also proven to be a subject matter
expert on several fronts.
Sheriff Rahr awarded McCurdy with the Deputy of the Year on behalf of
the entire Sheriff’s Office.
For Patrick, it's all in the family.
Ironically, he won Deputy of the Year on the 30th anniversary of his
father winning the same award in Hayward, California.
But his law-enforcement lineage goes far beyond that.
Metro Transit Deputy Patrick McCurdy Says:
You know I grew up, my father as a police officer retired after 40
years. My mother was a deputy before she had me. I’ve got an uncle who's
a highway patrolman, as you said, for 14 years here and a few years in
California before that. My brother is a King County sex crimes
detective, now a new sergeant, just got promoted. And my wife used to
work for King County, in Metro, she was the first one of the first Metro
deputies down here. So grew up with this, I remember when I was seven
years old, my dad was a SWAT team commander and he held me hostage for a
scenario and swat team rescued me. And I repelled off the side of the
building with the swat team. So that was definitely an influence and
it's in my blood. But I love doing what I’m doing; it's the greatest job
in the world.
Narrator Says:
Patrick is a founding member of Metro's bicycle squad, known as the
BEES, and was instrumental in the process of returning tunnel patrols to
the metro transit police, when the transit tunnel reopened last fall
after its two-year retrofit.
He gives credit for his award to his co-workers; he says they're the
best people he's worked with his entire career.
They even took the liberty of creating a special name for the bike he
uses to do his job, and bearing in mind Patrick’s considerable physical
stature, the name fits.
Metro Transit Deputy Patrick McCurdy Says:
At one point during the winter with all of my winter gear on, and I was
311. Plus we have all the ticket books and the gas masks and all the
other equipment. So this thing struggle. I didn't pick the name but one
day I came in and my bicycle was named 'mongo burrito', probably because
it has to support me and haul me around. And I’ve broken a few chains
and bent a few rims along the way.
Narrator Says:
The highest honor given out by the sheriff's office is the Medal of
Valor.
This year, that honor went to former metro transit police deputy James
Laing.
In late January of 2007, Sergeant Laing happened upon an armed robbery
in progress.
The suspect had been threatening to kill the victim.
After Sergeant Laing identified himself as an off-duty office, the
suspect turned his gun toward the sergeant in a threatening manner,
Laing fired twice, killing the suspect.
King County Sergeant Jim Laing Says:
I felt throughout all of this that I was just doing my job, my duty. And
it was a very unpleasant duty that I had to perform that day. I'm really
honored that the department would give the award to me. I know they
don't do these things lightly but at the same time, I’m really thinking,
I just did my duty and that's it. When the sheriff gave me the award at
the ceremony, I was pretty nervous. I don't like being the center of
attention; I don't like being here today to tell you the truth. It's
kind of uncomfortable, I’d much rather just do my job and that's all.
Narrator Says:
The extraordinary service exemplified in these two current and one
former Metro deputy does stand out.
But they are just three of many, many Metro deputies who work hard to
make Metro’s transit system safe every day, for both passengers and the
many neighborhoods it serves.
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