Greenfield Police's Hostage Negotiation Team Wins Award

The Greenfield Police Department's ability to perform under pressure was recognized Tuesday.

The department's hostage negotiation team was named Outstanding Team for 2010 by the Wisconsin Crisis Negotiators Association based on its performance at three incidents in 2009 and 2010.

The team, consisting of Officer Bret Lepper, Sergeant Sean Licht, Officer Jason Birschbach, Officer Susanne Aasterud, Detective James Bruno, Detective Jeff Monson-Dupuis and Detective Frank Rewolinski, was also recognized for the training it has provided to negotiators from around the state at the organization's annual conference.

The incidents were: 

• In February 2009, a 29-year-old man climbed to the top of an electrical tower near 86th Street and Plainfield Avenue and threatened to jump. Negotiators talked to the man for over an hour in sub-zero temperatures and convinced him to climb down.
• In October 2009, a 49-year-old despondent man took a clerk hostage at while armed with a large-caliber handgun. The suspect walked outside the business brandishing the gun attempting to commit “suicide by cop" but negotiators convinced the man to give up his firearm and surrender.
• In February 2010, a 45-year-old man filled his home at 64th and Leroy Avenue with natural gas in a suicide attempt. Negotiators successfully convinced the man to exit the house and give himself up.