Author: Jerry Higgins
Members of the Prisons’ Special Operations Response Team, along with a member from the Prisons’ Special Operations Target Interdiction Team (Snipers), placed third overall in the 2019 North Carolina Tactical Officer’s Association 26th annual SWAT Competition at the NC Justice Academy in Salemburg last month.
The DPS team placed behind the Fort Bragg Special Response Team and the Durham Police Department SRT, which are full-time SWAT teams. Only three points separated the top three places. The DPS team finished first in three events and third in two others. Overall, they placed in the top three in five of the seven events. Among the first place individual finishers was William Johnson of SOTIT, who won top sniper honors.
The DPS team trains together once a month to sharpen their skills; on a daily basis they work as officers, sergeants, unit managers and K9 officers in prison facilities and/or regions.
“Needless to say, we are all proud of their performance in the competition,” said Prisons’ Chief of Security Kenneth Smith. “However, it also demonstrates their capability and just how elite these members of our special teams are and can be. They all represent our department well, and strive in keeping the standards high.”
Members of the team that participated were: Jimmy McLain, SORT Commander, Scotland Correctional Institution; Robert Bilberry, SORT Team Leader, Special Operations and Intelligence Unit; Robert Bishop, SORT Team Leader, Greene CI; Anthony Leonguerrero, SORT, Sandy Ridge Bus Terminal K9 Officer; Jessie McCarty, SORT, Central Prison; Darrell Sanderford, SORT, Anson CI; Willie Watson, SORT, Randall Building; Derrick Hetrick, SORT, Maury CI; William Johnson, SOTIT, Alexander CI.
