By BJ Jones
President
Fire Marshal & Emergency Services Association (FMESA)
The September 22, 2026, rescue off the coast of San Luis Obispo County demonstrates the importance of experience, relationships, rapid response, and statewide operational readiness by the Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch.
As President of the Fire Marshal & Emergency Services Association (FMESA), I believe it is important for California’s leaders, public safety partners, and the public to understand the essential role performed every day by California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs.
Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs are sworn peace officers strategically field-based throughout California to provide rapid response to emergencies and direct support to local public safety agencies.
Their responsibilities extend far beyond traditional administrative functions. They respond to major emergencies, work directly with local, state, federal, tribal, military, fire, emergency management, and law enforcement partners, coordinate critical public safety resources, and deploy into many of the same dangerous and demanding environments confronting California’s local first responders.
A recent rescue off the San Luis Obispo County coast demonstrates why that experience, readiness, and years of relationship building matter.
WHEN MINUTES MATTER
On the evening of September 22, an MK-58 Hawker Hunter experienced an engine failure and crashed into the Pacific Ocean approximately six miles northwest of Morro Bay. The pilot ejected and was left in the water awaiting rescue.
Through an established professional relationship between Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch personnel and Naval Air Station Lemoore Search and Rescue, direct communication was immediately established with NAS Lemoore.
Commander Mike “Lance” McDevitt, Commanding Officer of Station SAR Lemoore, and Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Region 1A Assistant Chief Ryan Smith were directly involved in the rapid coordination that followed. Within moments, the urgency of the situation was understood and an NAS Lemoore Search and Rescue helicopter already in flight was redirected toward the incident.
The significance of that response was substantial. The closest available civilian hoist-capable rescue aircraft was estimated to be more than an hour away.
The Navy aircrew quickly arrived, deployed a rescue swimmer, recovered the pilot from the Pacific Ocean, provided medical care, and transported the pilot for additional treatment.
The response demonstrated the value of experienced public safety professionals who can work quickly across agency and governmental boundaries to place the right resource where it is needed most.
Following the rescue, Commander McDevitt recognized the professional and seamless working relationship between NAS Lemoore, Cal OES, and California’s first responder community.
That relationship was built over years of training, planning, joint response, and professional trust. It allowed the agencies involved to communicate directly, understand the mission immediately, and act without unnecessary delay.
In this case, years of relationship-building translated directly into life-saving action.
RELATIONSHIPS ARE A PUBLIC SAFETY RESOURCE
California’s emergency response and mutual aid systems depend on more than policies, organizational charts, and written procedures—they depend on experienced people who understand the operational need, know what resources are available, know who controls them, and can quickly bring the right agencies together.
Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs perform that role every day throughout California. The relationships they build with sheriffs, police chiefs, emergency managers, fire service leaders, search-and-rescue teams, military commands, tribal governments, state and federal agencies, and other public safety professionals become a critical operational resource during emergencies.
The September 22 rescue demonstrated the value of those relationships. A call was made to a trusted partner, the need was immediately understood, an aircraft changed direction, a rescue swimmer entered the water, and a pilot was recovered.
What may appear to be a simple telephone call was actually the product of years of professional credibility, operational experience, and mutual trust. And while communication and coordination are essential, they represent only one part of the Assistant Chief’s responsibilities.
FIELD BASED BY DESIGN
Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs are strategically field based throughout California because the emergencies they support occur in the field. Their locations allow them to respond rapidly when communities and public safety agencies need state assistance.
Assistant Chiefs routinely deploy into some of California’s most difficult environments alongside the local responders they support. They work major wildfires in extreme heat, smoke, ash, evacuation zones, and rapidly changing fire conditions; floods and atmospheric river events involving rising water, damaged infrastructure, road closures, evacuations, and isolated populations; and earthquake-damaged communities facing disrupted transportation, communications, and ongoing public safety hazards.
They also respond to hazardous materials and chemical incidents requiring specialized protective equipment and awareness of contamination and exposure risks; civil unrest and major law enforcement events requiring immediate mutual aid coordination and deployment of personnel and specialized resources; and search and rescue missions in mountains, forests, waterways, deserts, snow, and remote terrain under conditions ranging from extreme cold to extreme heat.
Their responsibilities also include providing searchers and equipment for missing persons, staffing and review of major security incidents, catastrophic disasters, evacuations, aviation emergencies, and other events requiring state level law enforcement coordination and rapid decision making.
These deployments are not conducted from a distance. Assistant Chiefs work alongside sheriffs, police officers, firefighters, search and rescue personnel, emergency managers, military personnel, emergency medical providers, dispatchers, and other first responders. When local partners are operating in smoke, rain, snow, mud, extreme temperatures, hazardous conditions, or devastated communities, Assistant Chiefs are there with them.
SWORN PEACE OFFICERS WITH A STATEWIDE MISSION
Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs are sworn peace officers entrusted with significant responsibilities within California’s emergency management and law enforcement mutual aid systems. Their peace officer experience and training are integral to the job.
They must understand law enforcement operations, incident command, mutual aid, emergency management, public safety communications, officer safety, resource deployment, and interagency operations.
They must also understand the capabilities and limitations of agencies within their regions and across California.
When an emergency escalates, an Assistant Chief may need to rapidly assess what a local jurisdiction is confronting, identify available resources, establish communication between multiple agencies, facilitate state assistance, and help move personnel or specialized capabilities into the incident.
Their responsibilities do not follow a traditional work schedule. Fires grow overnight. Earthquakes occur without warning. People become lost on weekends and holidays. Flood waters rise in darkness. Civil unrest and significant law enforcement events can develop rapidly. Major emergencies do not wait for normal business hours, and neither can California’s law enforcement mutual aid system.
Assistant Chiefs maintain operational awareness and availability around the clock because the agencies and communities they serve may need them at any time.
STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH LOCAL RESPONDERS
One of the most important aspects of the Assistant Chief role is understanding the needs of local government from the field level. That credibility is built through years of deployments, exercises, planning, major incidents, and working shoulder to shoulder with California’s public safety professionals.
Assistant Chiefs bring practical experience from wildfires, search-and-rescue missions, floods, earthquakes, civil unrest, hazardous materials incidents, and major law enforcement operations directly into the decision-making process. That experience matters when conditions are changing quickly, resources are needed, and decisions must be made without delay.
It also builds trust. Local agencies know the Assistant Chiefs assigned to their regions, know who will answer the call, and know who will respond when assistance is needed.
That direct connection between local government and the State of California is one of the most important functions performed by the Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch.
FMESA RECOGNIZES THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE RESPONSE
The September 22 rescue deserves recognition. FMESA commends Commander McDevitt, the NAS Lemoore Search and Rescue aircrew, the rescue swimmer, medical personnel, and everyone who supported the mission. Their training, professionalism, and immediate response resulted in the pilot being recovered from the Pacific Ocean and transported for medical care.
We are equally proud of the professional relationships developed and maintained by Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch personnel that connect California’s communities with critical resources such as NAS Lemoore when lives are at stake. This incident provides a visible example of work occurring throughout California every day, much of which never makes the news.
There may be no television cameras when an Assistant Chief responds to a disaster in the middle of the night, assists an incident commander, identifies needed resources, coordinates mutual aid, or remains deployed for extended periods alongside local responders. Yet those actions are an essential part of California’s public safety system.
As President of FMESA, I am proud to represent these dedicated professionals. Cal OES Law Enforcement Branch Assistant Chiefs are field-based California peace officers who respond when communities are experiencing some of their worst days. They build relationships before disaster strikes, answer when called, deploy where needed, work alongside local partners, and connect public safety agencies with the personnel, resources, and capabilities necessary to protect lives and communities.
That is not simply administrative work. It is essential public safety work performed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the State of California by the public safety professionals represented by FMESA.
