2016 NJSPBA
Valor Awards
Bronze
Medal of
Valor
Lieutenant
Thomas Ryan
Officer
James DiVite
A careful negotiation
Given his 13 years of experience as a
delegate for Pascack Valley Local 206,
Lieutenant Thomas Ryan has attended
Pascack Valley
plenty of Valor Award ceremonies. But
Local 206
this year, he suited up for the event with a
white rose pinned securely to his uniform
as an award recipient, alongside Pascack Valley Police Officer
James DiVite. The two were awarded the Bronze Medal of Valor
for their response to a man in distress, holding his mother captive in a bathroom with a samurai sword.
When the call first came over the radio, Ryan and DiVite
started mental preparation for the volatile situation that they
were about to walk into. It was clear to them that they would
have to proceed with caution, but the action they took came
from the type of rescue instinct that strengthens with years of
experience.
“Training and experience is paramount,” stated Ryan. “The
more training and experience you have, the better off you’ll be
responding to any call.”
As reported, the officers first encountered the male in a bathroom holding his mother in one arm, and a freshly sharpened
samurai sword in the other. “You come near me and I’m going
to kill you,” threatened the disturbed man. DiVite and Ryan
stood in the doorway, carefully trying to convince the man to
let go of his mother.
DiVite was prepared to take physical action. “My Lieutenant
advised me that, if we got the opportunity, we were going to
Bronze
Medal of
have to rush (the man) and take action,” he explained. “Our
closest dispatch was still 15 to 20 minutes away; that’s a long
time when you’re trying to negotiate with someone who has a
samurai sword and keeps on sheathing it.”
Eventually, the man agreed to release his mother from the
threatening situation, but he refused to let go of his weapon.
Once the mother was away from the scene, Ryan continued to
negotiate. When the man finally put his samurai sword at his
side, the two officers took the opening to take him down.
“An opportunity presented itself and I rushed him, and (DiVite) was right on my heels,” recalled Ryan. “I owe all the credit
to him and my backup. We were on each other’s heels and that’s
what it took to bring things to a happy conclusion.” d
Putting the ‘Team’ in SWAT
On Aug. 16, 2015, at 1:20 p.m.,
Warren Police Department was
dispatched to a residence for a
welfare check. As responding ofSergeant
ficers made their way toward the
Jon Burger
residence, they were met by an asBernards Township
sailant shooting at them with a riLocal 357
fle. Pinned down behind their paSergeant William
trol vehicles and taking fire from
Brown
the barricaded subject, a call went
Somerset County
out for the county SWAT team to
Prosecutors Office
respond.
Local 307
“I live 10 miles away,” noted
Somerset County Prosecutors
Office Local 307 Sergeant and SWAT member William Brown.
“When the call came in of ‘shots fired,’ I had my car with me at
the time, got dressed in the middle of the street and drove right
to the scene.”
Brown and Bernards Township Local 357 Sergeant Jon Burger arrived at the scene within approximately 30 minutes of the
callout.
“We were met there by officers on duty at the time who quickly said, ‘We’ve got to get these officers out of the way,’” Brown
recounted. “With all my big SWAT gear, I couldn’t get back in
Valor
the car, so I said, ‘John you take the car and we’ll provide support.’ I didn’t get to see the quick assessment, so all the credit
with coming up with the ideas has to go to John Burger.”
Believing that the officers who were pinned down were in
imminent danger, Burger drove his vehicle toward the officers,
providing cover and rescuing them while Brown provided suppressing fire on the gunman.
“We had these other officers standing behind me, and I
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