Shino Tanaka came to the profession ready to “dance.”  While most trainees are prepared only for the immediate moment before them, Tanaka’s vision always included the “What next?”  Standing a shade short of five feet tall, she could be as menacing as an angry bee when necessary; in another situation her feathered words could calm a maelstrom.

Tanaka was the Bobby Jones of Menlo Park.  Retiring at a clear advantage over her academy mates, she left to start a family—no regrets, no looking back. Typical Tanaka—she just went for it.

Here’s the story of an incident that took place during her initial field training period.  As a rookie in her shadowing phase, Tanaka had to make a journeyman’s decision. Her courage and cool in the face of danger surprised me, and left an impression that has stayed with me since.

When trainees have nearly completed their field training, they are “shadowed” by their Field Training Officer.  The FTO is in plain clothes and rides with the trainee, but does not participate in any training activity, and in many instances has no conversation with the trainee at all.  It is strictly a two-week observation period during which the FTO judges whether the trainee is ready to graduate to become a solo officer.

The BOL (Be On the Lookout) from Palo Alto that day was for a carjacking that had just occurred.   Two suspects had taken the vehicle from its owner at a gas station on El Camino Real.  Tanaka, who had been scanning East Palo Alto already, automatically turned her scanner on to Palo Alto as well. She edged her patrol car towards the nearest gas station: corner of University and Donahoe.  The FTO in the passenger seat had already begun to analyze the BOL:  What if the “jacking” had occurred before the car had pumped gas?  He wondered if Tanaka recalled one fact from her earlier training:  ALL cars have a common denominator—the need for gas stations.

He didn’t have to wait long.  Tanaka, who rarely stopped chatting while she was “hunting,” quickly announced that she was going to poach a little to go to East Palo Alto’s border gas station at University and Donahoe.

Now, there are two basic types of police work: “hunting” and “fishing.”  Nearly all rookies begin by fishing.  They rely on a kind of biased luck, if you will; they assume that if they stop enough cars, they’ll eventually find a person who has an arrest record or an outstanding warrant.  They stop every vehicle that has a violation attached to it.  On the other hand, officers who pay attention to the names listed on the BOL log, crime trends, stolen cars—those who do the homework—are the hunters, always searching.  They find more, they chase and catch more.  Tanaka was the earliest hunter we’d seen.

She was on the hunt now.  Eastbound over the overpass the Chevron station came into sight from top to bottom.  The station appeared full and busy.  Customers walked casually back and forth from the cashier’s office.  Everything appeared normal.

As Tanaka pulled closer, nearly all the cars were visible—just one, closest to the office, was obscured by the pumps.  When Tanaka pulled into the southwest entrance, she quickly noticed what the FTO had confirmed two seconds earlier:  The stolen car’s tank was being filled by a subject who had not seen the patrol car enter the driveway.  The white Honda with out-of-state plates held a further menace in addition to the suspect pumping gas.  It held a passenger—the other suspect.

Tanaka called for code-three cover.

Realizing that the suspects had not seen her yet,  Tanaka quickly braked and pulled back behind the cover of the forward pumps.  She paused and looked at her FTO, who had not taken his eyes off her since the moment he had identified the stolen car.

The FTO smiled and asked,  “What are you going to do?”

Tanaka replied quickly, “I don’t know.”  Then just as quickly she continued, “Look, my cover is still at least minutes away.  If we wait, they might take off and we’ll end up in a pursuit.  We have them now.  I need your help.  I need you to step out of your FTO role and help me take these guys.”

This request showed uncommonly good sense for someone so new to the job.  Yeah, her action implied, a silent shadow is what we’re supposed to be doing, but this is reality,  it’s dangerous, and I need your assistance.

The FTO shrugged,  pulled out his badge, attached it to his belt and asked what he could do.  Tanaka said, “You take the driver, I’ll take the passenger.”  The FTO, realizing the driver had gone inside to pay, knew he would have to walk past the passenger to get to the office.  Rookie and veteran exited the car and walked quickly towards the car and office.  The FTO advised Tanaka of the hazard of walking by the passenger: “If anything but his hands comes up, be prepared to shoot!”

Tanaka, looking as if she’d practiced this a hundred times, replied, “No problem.”

The FTO, with weapon drawn, rushed in and drew down on the only individual at the counter.  The cashier, not realizing the man with the gun was a police officer, threw his hands up in a gesture of defense.  The suspect, also unaware of the true identity of the man dressed in jeans and baseball cap, weapon drawn and yelling, stood motionless for a moment.  Finally noting the badge and seeing the safety come off the weapon, he reluctantly hit the ground.

When the FTO looked outside, he saw that Tanaka had already frozen the passenger and had taken a position where she could see the activity inside.  She holstered her gun and quickly cuffed the passenger.  She then made her way to the office and just as quickly cuffed the other suspect.  The FTO began walking back to the patrol car as blaring sirens and red lights entered the gas station from all directions.

The small smile on Tanaka’s face mirrored that of her FTO.  They had pulled it off—safely, wisely, and in a manner that had appeared both practiced and professional.

The sergeant’s de-briefing of the incident found Tanaka guilty of being possessed of too much common sense to remain a trainee.  With the FTO’s agreement, she was released as a solo officer.

Shino Tanaka went on to shine among her peers, always vibrant, eager, and invested.  She left a giant legacy for having made so brief an appearance.