Inside the world of the Berks County Emergency Response Team

June 10--Teamwork. Commitment. Collaboration.

These are not just words to the men of the Berks County Emergency Response Team, or BCERT. They are the basic tenets by which they operate.

"This isn't your typical go-out-on-patrol thing, so (teamwork) definitely does make a difference," Spring Township police Officer Todd Peterson said. "Being close like that is very important."

Wearing military-style "multicams" (wood-themed camouflage uniforms), and armed with rifles and handguns, the team vigorously trains two days a month and two full weeks a year, ensuring its skills are sharp when it is called into the fray.

When they're not actively training, team members tease and cajole, a testament to their brotherhood. But the minute they enter the field, all smiles and jokes are put to rest and they are all business.

"To make this go, there's a lot of work that needs to be done," Bern Township police Officer Michael P. Wiley said. "It's a commitment."

BCERT doesn't respond to all emergency situations. There needs to be a certain level of risk, and the situation often involves a person with a weapon.

But even a routine building clearing could turn into a hostage situation, as it did in West Reading in November when a burglary suspect, Adam Barrett, took a husband and wife hostage in their second-floor bedroom before he surrendered.

"That's the uniqueness of the job," Wiley said. "You're often thrown curveballs."

Cory Huntsinger, a Spring Township officer and team sniper, takes long-range aim from the prone position as part of BCERT training. (Reading Eagle: Susan L. Angstadt)

BCERT beginnings

It all began with five police officers and another county SWAT team.

After a failed attempt to create a SWAT-style interagency team in 2003, five officers, two each from Muhlenberg and Exeter and one from West Reading, joined a tactical team in Chester County.

It wasn't until 2006 that the idea of an emergency tactical team was revisited, and in February 2007 the newly formed BCERT held it first tryouts.

"When this got started, there was a lot of talk about cooperation (between departments)," team leader and Wyomissing Sgt. John Phillips said. "This was kind of a way to test the waters."

Tryouts are a 20-plus hour grueling day that test the officers' mettle -- physically, mentally and emotionally.

"Everyone goes through the same procedure: a very long, physically and mentally challenging day," Phillips said. "Everyone said theirs was the worst."

Phillips, who was part of the original team, said his was the worst. But no matter how bad the tryouts, they still serve to bring the team members closer together.

"We're looking for people that are going to fit here," Phillips said. "We decide as a team who comes in."

The newly formed team trained hard with the Chester County team for the next two years, toiling away to become proficient in the skills they needed to save lives and help people.

In March 2009, it finally went active.

It was only a few months after becoming an active team that BCERT responded to one of its biggest cases to date.

William R. Landis Jr. fatally shot his wife in the head that October, then barricaded himself in the basement of their Spring Township home.

The BCERT team was called into action, and it successfully negotiated with Landis, but not before taking gunfire. No team members were hurt.

"That was a big call and we were brand new," Wiley said. "He was barricaded with a gun in the house."

Today, there are still about nine members of the original team.

BCERT members participate in weapons qualifying during a recent training exercise at a Muhlenberg Township range. (Reading Eagle: Susan L. Angstadt)

The team

The BCERT team consists of about 40 officers, a mix of tactical operators, negotiators, snipers, building breachers, entry personnel and a command staff.

"We have our negotiators," Phillips said. "I want them to talk (the suspect) out every time. A peaceful resolution is what they want."

They also have a team of tactical medics who train with them and respond to every call, from high-threat warrants to barricades.

The Eastern PA Tactical EMS team was established in 1999 and became operational in 2005. About 15 team members from different EMS agencies offer medical assistance and protection to seven tactical teams in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties and state police.

"We're a tactical EMS team that stepped up to the plate," medic Josh High said. "Our primary operation as a team is to make sure the team is good to do what they need to do."

High said that ranges from everything to a small cut on an officer's hand to a serious injury out in the field.

"The neat thing for us as a team -- the tactical medical side of things in Pennsylvania is new," he said. "We're in the forefront of figuring out what works and doesn't work."

Although it does not have a transport unit, the EMS team treats the patient and coordinates with other medical personnel at a scene.

"If an operator goes down, we stay with them the whole time," High said. "We're with the team. We go with the team wherever they go."

They're not the only ones looking out for the team.

The snipers of BCERT can shoot hundreds of yards, are experts in cover and concealment and provide needed intelligence to the tactical operators in the midst of the situation.

"Our main purpose, 95 percent of the time, we're gathering intelligence," said Peterson, a sniper.

Wiley called them the team's eyes and ears.

"They know we're out there," Spring Township Officer Cory Huntsinger said. "We're out there watching them when they come in."

Snipers generally operate in teams of two and are the first ones on the scene, setting up where they can see the action and report back to their teammates.

They all attended basic and advanced sniper school, and train once a month with the other officers, conducting solo training on the other monthly training date.

Craig Downs, an Exeter patrolman, during rifle-qualifying exercises at a recent Berks County Emergency Response Team training exercise at a Muhlenberg Township range. (Reading Eagle: Susan L. Angstadt)

Training and equipment

There is no official BCERT headquarters or training site, so the team remains flexible and creative when it comes to training in various places and for different scenarios.

It uses condemned buildings to practice breaching and occupied ones to practice live scenarios. It goes out in the woods and practice searches, an often-needed skill in rural areas.

It practices in urban and wooded environments, and even when it is not qualifying with its weapons, it does firing drills on the range to address different scenarios.

"As BCERT, we're the most fortunate officers in the county because we get to train twice a month," Phillips said. "We get to reinforce perishable skills."

Among those are riot-control skills, which the team practiced for several hours at a recent training, addressing different formations and scenarios it would encounter if it needed to extract someone from a riotous crowd.

The team trains like it responds -- in full gear and ready to do whatever is necessary to effect the best possible outcome.

"Our main focus is to save lives," Phillips said. "All lives."

Contact Rochel Leah Goldblatt: 610-371-5024 or rgoldblatt@readingeagle.com.

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