ALAMEDA COUNTY, California (15 August 2004) -- "Have you ever been frightened while under water?" is one of the questions posed to applicants for the Alameda County Sheriff's Volunteer Dive Team. Divers who respond "no" shouldn't count on getting selected. That's because, says team Capt. Gene Battaglia, "anybody who says he or she isn't scared, especially in black water, isn't telling the truth." Going down 20 feet into Castro Valley's Lake Chabot "is like turning the lights off," explains Battaglia, adding that divers should close their eyes to prevent "your brain playing tricks on you." Currently, there are 53 Bay Area residents on the volunteer search-and-rescue team who go into the Bay, lakes and creeks searching for bodies, evidence and vehicles. They include San Leandrans Don Fugere and Bill Matopoulos. In 2003, sheriff's Deputy Roger Kendle says, dive team volunteers donated a total of 3,334 hours to practices and "call-outs" to accident or crime scenes. The cost, if Sheriff Charles Plummer had to pay deputies for the same time and duties, would exceed $100,000. The work isn't glamorous, as often portrayed on television, Kendle admits. "It's ugly, nasty (stuff) that no one else wants to do," he says. "These divers are going into totally dark, black water and finding dead people." Infrequently, says Battaglia, a dive team member for six years, divers are involved in searches that make the daily newspapers and nightly television news. A case in point occurred in January 2003, when divers searched in the Bay off Richmond for Laci Peterson of Modesto, who had been missing since Christmas Eve 2002. The bodies of Laci and her unborn son eventually washed ashore, and Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, now is on trial in San Mateo County on murder charges. More often, Battaglia points out, divers face situations such as searching for weapons dropped in a body of water. | | About two years ago, he recalls, a prisoner at the Santa Rita county jail in Dublin told his brother that he had discarded a gun used in a crime in a creek at Carlos Bee Park off Grove Way in Castro Valley, The brother agreed to find the gun and get rid of it. However, the telephone conversation was taped. Sheriff's deputies contacted Battaglia, who found the weapon in the creek before the suspect's brother could do so. Dive team applicants, who must have their diver's certification, are required to attend a year-long public safety diving academy. Some of the classes concern preservation of crime scene evidence and how to handle bodies. Battaglia, 48, makes periodic visits to Bay Area dive clubs to recruit for the dive team, which has been providing volunteer services for more than a half-century. The team is open to anyone who meets the qualifications and can respond within one hour to a "call-out" from the sheriff's department. Divers range from young people -- one recent recruit serves in the Coast Guard -- to retirees. Divers must provide their own equipment, such as diving tanks. The sheriff's department provides such equipment as boats and an air compressor. Members of the dive team, along with other sheriff's volunteer groups, are covered by workers' compensation benefits in case of injuries or accidents. Kendle said dive team members spend much more time practicing than out on actual search-and-rescue expeditions. Monthly meetings and periodic training sessions -- such as one in late July at San Antonio Reservoir east of Sunol -- keep divers ready for local responses or calls for assistance in other counties. "We are very fortunate, and it is unusual to have a team this large," Kendle says of the current 53 members. "Most counties have six to eight people, but then we have a much bigger pool of people to draw from." SOURCE - Tri-Valley Herald |
