Profiles in policing: Investigator Tyler Dawson, Brockport Police Department
The first in an occasional series focusing on the officers of the BPD, their jobs, their stories, and their thoughts on policing.
by Margay Blackman,
Brockport Village Mayor
Tyler Dawson is a 36-year-old Brockport police officer. Born and raised in the Rochester area, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Roberts Wesleyan and is married with three young children. Before joining the BPD in 2012, he was an EMT with Gates Ambulance, a volunteer firefighter in Brockport, and a part-time police officer with the Holley Police Department.
My first encounter with Officer Dawson’s police skills was several years ago when I was locked out of the Mayor’s office at the old village hall. He had come in the back door as I was unsuccessfully rattling around in my briefcase for my keys. “Locked out?” he asked, “Got a credit card?” I pulled out my Visa card and handed it to him. He slid it between the door and the door jamb, releasing the spring latch, turned the doorknob, and I was in, impressed.
In April 2019, I had another memorable encounter with Officer Dawson, this time at the police department. It was Scholars Day at SUNY Brockport, a big off-campus party day for those not participating in the academic sessions on campus. I had come by the department for an afternoon “ridealong” on patrol. While waiting, I spotted a tall, scruffy-looking young man standing outside the police station, drinking a soda and chatting with one of the other officers. I couldn’t help but notice his unkempt, long black hair and beard, grease-stained pants, and equally greasy jacket bearing the logo of a car repair shop in another municipality. “Who is this character hanging out at the BPD, and what is he doing here,” I wondered. “You don’t recognize Tyler,” another officer teased. No, I certainly did not. He was working at the time, on loan, so to speak, to The Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (GRANET) as an undercover agent.
Today, you’ll find him on the afternoon shift (third platoon, 2 to 10 p.m.) along with Officer Sime (K9 Handler), Officer Vadas (DRE – Drug Recognition Expert), and Sargeant Hagen. When I interviewed him, he was on light desk duty, recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in training. He was dressed in a suit and tie and coiffed very differently than an undercover drug agent. A shiny, imposing investigator badge encircled his neck.
You can’t help smiling when you talk to Investigator Dawson. He has a hearty laugh and a good sense of humor. He’s an enthusiastic conversationalist and thoughtful instructor in the mysteries of police work. Most of all, he loves his job as an investigator, which Chief Cuzzupoli appointed him to three years ago. “Best job in the world,” he says emphatically.
We began with his work with the drug task force. Chief Cuzzupoli appointed him to the Narcotics Enforcement Team in 2019, and he served 19 months. The usual term is three years, but he was needed back in Brockport. If the opportunity arose, he said, “I would go back in a heartbeat.”
Rochester is a drug hub that distributes to small communities. For dealers from Rochester, Brockport and other small satellite communities are safer areas in which to do their business. What he learned in Rochester, Officer Dawson could use on local targets. And there are some.
It takes a team to do undercover work. Cooperation and confidentiality are key. Officer Dawson worked with a team of five individuals from various regional law enforcement agencies. He sees a real advantage to Drug Task Force work. Getting to know people during an investigation is much more effective than just buying undercover drugs off the street or taking drugs found during a traffic stop. On the task force, you have time to focus on one aspect of law enforcement, infiltrate it, and pursue a high level of investigation. “You can’t scratch this just being on the road,” Tyler commented. “The radio dictates everything when you’re on the road.”
What about the danger of the work? I asked. “Yes, it’s dangerous,” he said, “but you know the potential. The mind stuff. You are prepared. Your body won’t go where the mind has not gone before.”
I was surprised at his answer when I asked what was the most important skill he gained from the Drug Task Force. Without hesitation, he said, “How to write a search warrant.” He now writes most of the search warrants for the BPD.
I asked about the warrants. I wanted to see one and have him tell me about it. Instead, he fanned out six multi-page warrants and an affidavit from 2019 on the table before us. This was the paperwork he needed to complete one undercover drug deal – a whole day’s worth of preparation. The affidavit goes to the judge, who signs it along with the warrants. The affidavit tells the judge what the Affiant (the undercover agent in this case) is going to do and that he has probable cause to do it. It summarizes the warrants. Additionally, before you even do the warrant, a multi-page operations plan has to be prepared, which needs to be approved by the command staff. The warrants were for two properties, two people, and two vehicles. Tyler executed the undercover buy of cocaine; the team confiscated a large amount of cocaine that a drug field test determined to be laced with fentanyl, along with $74,000 in cash. Then followed writing up the charges for each individual, booking them, and a whole day’s worth of logging the confiscated property into the property room at the Rochester Police Department. Clearly, an enormous amount of police work is paperwork.
My latest on-the-job encounter with Inspector Dawson was a few months ago. It was midnight, and a police car, fire truck, and a small gaggle of people were gathered around three long ladders braced against my next-door neighbor’s Norway maple tree. Tyler was working overtime that night when a pedestrian stopped him and pointed to a baby raccoon up in the tree with a peanut butter jar stuck on its head. Tyler had climbed into the tree canopy, but the raccoon ascended out of reach, and the impromptu animal rescue squad was forced to disperse. The raccoon was located the following day, across the canal and under a car. A DEC officer was summoned; he grabbed the little critter, freeing him from his peanut butter helmet, which he had licked clean. “My first failed investigation,” Investigator Dawson lamented.
