Fugitive Apprehension Team profiles

Fugitive Apprehension Team profiles
By O’Ryan Johnson  |   Friday, November 26, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

‘WE RELY ON THEM’: Fugitive Apprehension Team members officer Steve Ridge, left, and team leader Sgt. Detective Brian Albert, right, have taken down some of Boston’s most notorious and dangerous fugitives.
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

EDDIE HERNANDEZ

Officer Eddie Hernandez learned Spanish from his grandmother. He says he likes to blend into the background when the team enters a Spanish-speaking home, listening quietly in case anyone inside thinks they can get something past the cops.

The lifelong Dorchester resident said getting up early to work for his father, a contractor, gave him a strong work ethic that is tested during round-the-clock stakeouts.

STEVE RIDGE

Boston police Officer Steve Ridge developed the ability to spot a liar while working as a U.S. Customs Agent at Logan International Airport. He said he learned how to detect who was carrying drugs or smuggled goods by recognizing the mannerisms of deception, skills he declined to share.

He said the knack comes in handy when confronting friends and loved ones of violent felons who may try to conceal a fugitive’s whereabouts. But he said it’s ruined crime TV for him — the skills used by Hollywood cops who pretend to spot liars are a little laughable.

BRIAN ALBERT

Two decades ago, Sgt. Detective Brian Albert led Marines from behind a Humvee-mounted .50 caliber machine gun during Operation Desert Storm. After the Marine Corps, he worked as a Suffolk sheriff’s deputy guarding prisoners, a job that taught him how to search a room and a person, as well as how to talk to people from different backgrounds.

Now a Boston cop and head of the Fugitive Apprehension Team, he carries a much lighter .40 caliber Glock. After being tapped while a member of the BPD gang unit to organize the fugitive squad, Albert handpicked his team members.

He said he chose cops with people skills, since most of the job involves talking people into opening doors and telling them where the bad guys are.

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