San Bernardino Police Chief Lauded For Handling Of Mass Killing
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan recalls the moments right before the mass killing unfolded.
He was in a meeting last Wednesday when one of the captains tried calling him.
"My phone was on vibrate and I ignored the call. He called back a second time and I just figured he doesn't realize that I'm at this meeting and then quickly thereafter a text came in that said 911 and the phone rang again," he recalls.
Burguan soon learned that 14 lives were lost and 22 others were injured in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center.
"Up to this point in my career, anything that I'd been a part of had been, you know, 4 shooting victims, 4 people murdered that had been the biggest in terms of number of people in one incident, so I realized this is massive," he said.
The massive shooting placed Burguan in the spotlight of a national tragedy, but it is far from over.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: San Bernardino Shooting
Before he met CBS2 Thursday for a one-on-one interview, he was at a nearby lake that was being searched for more evidence.
It's been hectic, but Burguan has been praised for keeping his cool from the get-go.
"We had reporters wrapped all around. I've never seen that before. There were reporters asking me questions from behind me, but that had never happened before," he said. "But I think in my head, you just went into autopilot and you were just doing your thing."
Burguan was raised in Rialto and is married with four children. He's spent more than two decades with the department, but has only been chief for two years.
Now, he's left trying to keep his force strong, while many of his officers are still reeling in tremendous loss.
"We probably have every emotion imaginable present in the organization," he said. "We've got the extremes of the guys that are centered and pretty hardened and the guys that are pretty sensitive and upset over what they saw and what they experienced."
When asked about how fearful residents should cope, Burguan says there will always be bad people out there.
"There [are] people that lack the capacity to behave normally in society and they walk amongst us every day but by and large people are fine and you've got to live your life," he said.
The chief says his officers are getting proper counseling and psychological services. He says he has stepped up patrols through the first of the New Year.