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Program Daryl Bethea introduced Mesa West Member Don Boucher as the speaker. Copies of Don's bio were available on the tables. CLICK HERE to view the bio. The oldest of six children, Don was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in a single-parent household, living on public assistance in Woonsocket, RI. At age 20, Don relocated to Southern California to pursue a career in law enforcement. At age 22, he was hired as a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. In 1996, he was medically retired from the department, a result of on-duty cervical and lumbar injuries. Don began by saying he was a little nervous. He said that police work has changed a great deal since he left. He had to learn to manage his emotions under very challenging circumstances. Originally, Don had planned to share three stories, but decided to skip the elderly couple story until a later time. One of the skills he developed was to develop informants to solve crimes. Good informants were categorized as Confidential Informants ( CI) or Confidential Reliable Informants (CRI). Motivating the informants was their seeking to gain favorable credit because they had cases pending. The law enforcement officer needed to develop the relationship to the point that the informant liked the officer and believed the officer liked them - that they were best buds. Don developed a relationship with a young African American in his 20's. He had a girlfriend and a baby. Don's partner was trying to run a case but could not find proof about Hispanics selling large quantities of cocaine. Don's CRI had information about a deal that was supposed to happen. This was during a time that Don was working as a plainclothes detective. Mesa West members would probably not recognize Don in photos taken during that period. He wore jeans and t-shirts to work and had longer hair and a scruffy beard. This was also back before cell phones were streamlined as they are today. He carried a pager and stopped at pay phones to call in to see what was happening when he was paged. Don and his partner carpooled to work. They received word from the CRI that the transaction was going down. There was a 2-man black and white unit stationed in the distance to come in to help if needed. Don and his partner were in a van for around two hours. Finally, a couple of cars passed in tandem, did a U-Turn and parked in back of the building they were watching. There were two guys in each car. the CRI came out and after verifying there was 2 kilos of cocaine, he gave the bust sign. The CRI left to "go get his buyers." For the next 15 minutes, Don relayed the details of what transpired after they burst into the building immediately after serving a "knock notice" that they had a search warrant. Once inside, they cautiously proceeded toward the farthest point from the entrance to search for the cocaine. During what only lasted 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, numerous shots were fired by Don and other officers and suspects in the building. At one point, his partner was in the kitchen with the suspects, and Don believed his partner had been shot. He was going in to rescue Craig. A woman was under the kitchen table holding a large knife. She was shot three times and did not die. Not all the details Don conveyed are included in this story, but a few others were shot. Don clearly remembers shooting one suspect three times - in the chest, mouth and nose. He remembered thinking, "They don't pay us enough to do this. I hope the Department sees this the same way we did." At one point, an officer named Steve was shooting over Don's shoulder, and lost his pinkie finger from returned fire. Don believes Steve saved him from being shot in the face or head. The total rounds fired during that long minute and a half were determined to be ninety-seven. At the time, Don said "it was just another day. He was not bothered. He was glad to be alive. Three years later, the officers involved received medals of valor. The process to be honored was delayed because of the trials related to the case. During his tenure with the department, the LA County Sheriff's department had over ten thousand employees working in twenty-six substations and they also manned the jail facilities. Don told one more quick, heart-warming story. Occasionally officers would meet a young person they recognized as being special. One such young person was an Afro-American/Japanese boy being raised by a single mother. When Don would spot him, he often picked him up and took him home. Years later, Don was in Costco. The young man recognized Don and spoke to him. He was the Manager of that store, was happily married and had a child of his own. He thanked Don for all the times Don had taken him home.
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President-Elect Jim Schmidt opened the meeting by asking Greg Okonowski to offer the invocation and Bob Zarling to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. He noted that Steve Ross had served as greeter making everyone feel warmly welcomed.
We request that all Rotarians, if at all possible, contribute a minimum of $100 per year to the foundation. The clubs that have their entire membership contribute this amount, per member, are honored at the annual District Conference. When the Rotary Club of Mesa Baseline merged with us, they were all donating a minimum of $100 per year per member - something that those members should be proud of!.jpg)
A signature project of Mesa West Rotary is our annual Gift of Hearing mission. Ray Smith has notified us that the first planning meeting for the 2019 has been scheduled. The first meeting will be held Thursday, June 20 at 11:00 AM prior to our club meeting. Another meeting will likely be held in September.
Rotarians worldwide who have similar passions and interests can connect through Rotary Fellowships. The photo at right is one that was downloaded from the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians. To see the variety of fellowships currently available, 
