To Campbell Police, Conversation Often Trumps 'Cuffs

A caller told the dispatchers at 9:50 p.m. Monday that there seemed to be either a party or people arguing on the light rail station platform at Hamilton Avenue and Creekside Way.

Campbell police sent out cruisers and officers to investigate, even though the area is technically under Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department jurisdiction.

The whole incident took about 20 minutes and ended peacefully.

"They were able to calm things down and clear things up so people felt safe using the train platform," said Campbell police Capt. Charley Adams. "When we cleared the call, we turned it over to them (the sheriff's office)."

This incident is one of many the department is called out to daily, and talking to people is just part of the job.

"I’d say several times a day, we respond to these calls—domestic disputes, traffic incidents," Adams said. "Our officers are using their skills to calm people down and keep it out of the court system. There's no crime in arguing, unless you disturb someone’s peace. We help them through their differences. Offer counseling resources, agree to disagree or take a break from it.

"The object is not to be put people in jail," he said. "We just don’t want it to escalate into a physical altercation."

Training to handle these kinds of situations begin in Police Academy where officers learn how to diffuse a volatile situation, how to talk to people.

"The vast majority of our disturbance contacts, if there has not been a criminal act, have been solved," Adams says.