Bakersfield Police Chief Brent Stratton has spoken publicly for the first time about his department's involvement in the June 2 hostage standoff at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools building, praising his officers' response while acknowledging that there is still much to learn as the FBI continues its investigation. Anthony Scott Searles-Harris entered the Chase Bank branch on the first floor of the KCSOS building wearing what appeared to be a bomb vest and took nearly a dozen people hostage on the second floor.
After a 15-hour standoff, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team shot and killed Searles-Harris around 4:30 a.m. All hostages were rescued unharmed.
Stratton said the Bakersfield Police Department turned over command to the FBI around 9 p.m. on June 2 and that his department is still working to piece together a full picture of how the event unfolded.
"We're still learning information from them," Stratton said. "As we release the investigation over to their control, you know, the termination of how this event unfolded and how it ultimately ended — there's still some information that we don't know, and they're wrapping up their investigation, and sometimes these things take time." Stratton said BPD detectives remain assigned to work alongside the FBI and contribute to the criminal investigation.
"In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we'll know more as this thing firmly wraps up," Stratton said. Stratton credited the department's crisis negotiation team for their composure throughout the standoff, noting that negotiators train monthly and attend specialized courses.
"They did a fantastic job of being able to stay calm, to be able to stay and keep somebody talking and communicating," Stratton said. "That is a component of de-escalation if the other person is willing to engage and to be able to have some of that communication to try to do the very best that we can to bring a peaceful resolution." Stratton said a peaceful outcome is always the department's primary goal.
"It's an ideal set of circumstances for everybody to be able to walk out those doors, and that doesn't always get to happen, but that is absolutely the goal of our crisis negotiators when they go in, and that's the expectation of the department," Stratton said. When asked about the suspect's demeanor, Stratton said Searles-Harris displayed noticeable emotional swings throughout the lengthy event.
"It's a pretty deep level of anger and frustration to be able to get to that point, but then being able to maintain a level of calm and communication and then going back to some anger," Stratton said. "This is a lengthy event, and so there's a variety of different emotions — I'm certain of it." Stratton addressed online criticism regarding the suspect's reported request to speak with his ex-wife and daughter, explaining that negotiators weigh what are known in the profession as "hooks and triggers" when making those decisions.
"There are things called hooks and triggers," Stratton said. "What are the things that are the hooks that you might be able to speak to somebody to bring them in and to be able to develop that rapport and to communicate and to de-escalate?
And then some things are the opposite, which are triggers, and these are things that are going to push people away." Stratton said family can cut both ways in a crisis. "Sometimes those might be things that bring people in and break them down and calm them down, and other times those might be the things that make situations worse," Stratton said.
"The overarching goal is to be able to have the hostages be able to go home, to be able to take the suspect into custody, and for the officers to be able to go home. Those are the three goals, and it doesn't always work out that way." Stratton confirmed that BPD officers were prepared to use lethal force at any point during the hours they held command of the scene, not only after the FBI took over.
"The initial response within seconds or minutes is that officers are there, they're prepared to be able to take action if needed," Stratton said. "Throughout the entirety of this event, there were additional measures in place to be able to take lethal force if the situation dictated that." He said the decision to pursue communication and de-escalation was a deliberate choice made when circumstances allowed.
"When the situation allows and when it's feasible, we want to be able to do what we can to try to communicate and bring this to a peaceful resolution," Stratton said. The FBI is still investigating the device Searles-Harris was wearing.
Stratton said officers on the scene treated it as a genuine threat. "It looked and appeared to be real to them," Stratton said.
"When you have a situation like this, and you have people whose lives are at stake, you want to treat every threat as if it's real as opposed to assuming that something is fake and we're not willing to bet people's lives on that." Stratton said the department is waiting on the FBI to determine what type of device it was, whether it was active, and what its range may have been. Stratton also weighed in on the widespread live streaming of the standoff, calling it a factor law enforcement must now account for in any major incident.
"And what you do with information translates to whether it's just noise or whether it's intelligence," Stratton said. He cautioned, however, that live streams can also work against officers in the field.
"The person who is inside is also able to take that information. They're also able to see maybe where officers are located and what's happening there, which could allow them to be able to develop some level of a counter plan," Stratton said.
"It's information that we're going to have to grapple with." Despite expressing pride in his department's response, Stratton said BPD is committed to learning from the incident. He said the department plans to review body-worn camera footage, audio logs, 911 calls, and officer accounts to produce an after-action report.
"I'm overall extremely pleased with the department's response," Stratton said. "We are dedicated to constant improvement, and there are always things that we can learn."