Police Officers Bring Home Medals From National First-Responder Championships

Several Pasadena Police Department members won medals at the United States Police and Fire Championships in San Diego this month, competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, soccer and bowling at an Olympic-style event for first responders, the department said.

Police Chief Gene Harris reported that the department’s defensive tactics team finished second among 36 competing agencies and that all three of its gold medalists won their championship matches by submission. Officer Inga Woiwode captured what the department described as her eighth consecutive gold medal in soccer.

Medal-winning officers including Corporals Ronald Sereno, Ryan Mulrooney and Efren Sandoval, photographed with medals in a bowling alley, and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu contingent of Officer Dean Bisterfeldt, Detective Chrystian Bañuelos, Corporal Philip Poirier and Officer Nathan Gomez, coached by Marco Sanchez II of Straight Blast Gym.

The championships themselves are a long-running regional institution. This year’s games ran June 13 to 20 in San Diego, the 59th edition, according to the California Police Athletic Federation, the nonprofit that organizes them. The competition features more than 35 sports and draws thousands of law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first responders from across the country; the public can watch events for free. James King, the federation’s president, said in announcing the games that they “celebrate the unwavering dedication of our nation’s first responders.”

The event traces to 1967, when San Diego police Lt. Veon “Duke” Nyhus founded the California Police Olympics to promote fitness and camaraderie among officers, a history both the federation and the city newsletter recount. The games took their current name in 2012 and are one of three competitions the federation runs, alongside the biennial World Police and Fire Games and the First Responders Relay. The federation, established in 1970, says its mission is to promote sport and fitness among law enforcement, fire and other public-safety personnel. For the first time this year, the championships ran in conjunction with a Firefighter Challenge series.

Competitors train on their own time and often fundraise to offset expenses, with some support from the Pasadena Police Athletic Association, according to the city.