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Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing was sworn in March 21 as President of the California Police Chiefs Association, which represents the state’s municipal police chiefs whose agencies serve more than 26 million Californians.Swing, whose law enforcement career spans the last 23 years—all at MHPD—has been involved in the CPCA in various roles over the last seven years.“One of the benefits (of this involvement) is the opportunity to network and build relationships in law enforcement throughout the state,” Swing said. “As president, I will further expand and strengthen those relationships.”Swing was sworn in for a one-year term as president at the association’s 41st annual Training Symposium, at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach.Swing has been chief of police in Morgan Hill since 2011. His law enforcement career began as a reserve officer at MHPD in 1995.He was appointed to the CPCA’s board of directors in 2013, and was elected second vice president of the board in 2016, according to a press release from MHPD. Swing has also chaired the association’s Law and Legislation, and Political Action Committees for three years.Plus, he has served on the California League of Cities Board of Directors, representing CPCA for two years.“I am honored to lead the California Police Chiefs Association this year. We have much to be proud of as an association and profession, and much to accomplish in the coming year,” Swing said. “We will continue to collaboratively address issues facing our profession, including strengthening community trust, rising crime rates, the growing impacts of homelessness and the mentally ill, and the unprecedented reforms that have impacted the criminal justice system. All of these issues have significant impacts in the manner we serve our communities.”As Morgan Hill’s police chief, Swing has noted his belief that community engagement is a key ingredient to safe communities. He has led efforts with the City of Morgan Hill to increase community involvement, including an “outcome-based” plan for public safety focused on building community trust, according to the press release.He hopes that as leader of the CPCA, he will be able to influence his colleagues and the association to “engage the silent majority, to find their voice.” Swing was referring to the majority of residents in Morgan Hill and similar communities throughout out California who support their local police department and law enforcement in general.“I think it’s important for peace officers to hear the support from their communities,” Swing said. “If I look back 12 months from now, if we have found meaningful ways to help people find their voice and demonstrate their support, then this will be one of the most successful years of my career.”Earlier in his career, Swing found his calling in the work of domestic violence, according to the MHPD press release. He has led initiatives that strengthened MHPD’s response to domestic violence, including a federal grant that improved advocacy for victims and resulted in the opening of a Family Justice Center in Morgan Hill.Swing holds a Bachelor’s degree in public relations, and a Master’s in public administration from San Jose State University. He is a graduate of the California POST Command College, an executive leadership development program.For more information about the CPCA, visit the association’s website at californiapolicechiefs.org.

Twenty-five bowlers flocked to Morgan Hill Bowl Sunday, March 18 helping to raise $2,200 in funds for Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center’s fifth annual Bowl-A-Thon.

Sarah’s Vineyard, founded in 1978 by a group of four wine enthusiasts led by Marilyn “Sarah” Otteman, will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year with a May release of its “Estate Chardonnay,” according to a March 15 announcement.

The U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday heard arguments in its first abortion-related case under President Trump, and “pregnancy centers” in Gilroy and Hollister were center stage.

Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr will next appear in court April 18 for a pre-trial conference on a domestic battery charge, according to authorities.Carr, 49, had a hearing March 19 at South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, but it was postponed because his attorney could not be present, according to Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Vishal Bathija. He is next scheduled to appear in court at 1:30pm April 18.At a hearing in February, Carr pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge of domestic battery.The charge stems from a Nov. 25, 2017 incident involving his girlfriend of 11 years, with whom he shared a home in downtown Morgan Hill at the time.Morgan Hill Police responded to the couple’s residence that evening, and arrested Carr after taking statements from him and his girlfriend. The woman had told police, during a lengthy verbal argument, that Carr “ripped the glasses from her face and threw them to the ground, causing them to break,” and pulled her hair in the process, according to the police report of the investigation.Carr told police at the time that any contact he made with his girlfriend during the argument was accidental. He has continued to deny the allegations since his arrest.The victim did not exhibit any injuries or indicate a complaint of pain, according to police.Carr—who is currently serving in his fifth term as a Morgan Hill councilmember—was convicted of a similar misdemeanor charge in 2015, in relation to an incident at the couple’s previous home March 23. Carr pleaded no contest to domestic battery and completed a 16-week counseling program. The court later dismissed the charge from his record, at Carr’s formal request. Carr has also denied acting violently in that incident, and he pleaded no contest to avoid prolonged court proceedings.If Carr is convicted of the 2017 charge, the court can consider the 2015 conviction as a prior offense in his sentencing, according to authorities.

A Morgan Hill man arrested last week on suspicion of making explosives in his home has a history of bomb and drug related offenses, according to police reports and news archives.The police reports state that after initially denying that he was making explosives, Dennis Fritsinger later admitted to officers who responded to his home that he intentionally detonated a mixture of chemicals in his backyard.Fritsinger, 63, was arrested by Morgan Hill Police March 13 at his home on the 17700 block of McLaughlin Court, after his neighbors heard a series of explosions outside the residence over the previous days.On March 15, Fritsinger was charged at the South County Courthouse with one count of possession of a destructive device and one count of possession of materials with intent to make a destructive device or explosive, according to Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Vishal Bathija. Fritsinger’s next hearing is scheduled for 1:30pm March 23, when he is expected to enter a plea.Both charges are felonies, and his maximum sentence, if convicted, is four years, eight months in prison, according to Bathija. Fritsinger is being held at Santa Clara County Jail on $200,000 bail.According to sfgate.com, Fritsinger was convicted in 2000 of three counts of bomb possession, two counts of possessing assault rifles, three counts of possessing silencers, one count of manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing chemicals to make meth.Fritsinger was a resident of Cupertino when he was arrested for those crimes, according to sfgate, a website published by the San Francisco Chronicle.Morgan Hill Police reports of the incident, found in the court file, describe a few tense moments as the first responding officers were notified over the radio of Fritsinger’s criminal history just before they noticed test tubes, beakers and other suspicious chemistry-related materials in his garage.Officers initially responded to Fritsinger’s home after neighbors reported two explosions the afternoon and early evening of March 12. Police could not locate the source of the first explosion. But after a neighbor offered more details on the second explosion, about 6pm March 12, police pinpointed Fritsinger’s home as the source, according to the court file.One neighbor told MHPD dispatch over the phone that the 6pm explosion sent clumps of mud and other debris onto the neighbor’s next-door home and over the roof, according to the court file. The neighbor looked over the fence and saw a small crater in Fritsinger’s backyard with smoke coming out of it.Neighbors also phoned police that they had heard smaller explosions from Fritsinger’s property over the previous two weeks, according to the court file.When the first officer approached the home and asked Fritsinger about the previous explosions, he denied that any such explosions had occurred, according to the court file. The first responding officers noticed a workbench in his garage, where a “large white tube approximately eight inches in diameter, capped on both ends” was spinning on an unidentified machine. Officers also saw an “unknown substance” in a large glass beaker.Fritsinger initially told officers that the tube was a “tumbler” for polish, and that the chemicals were for refrigeration materials for his work. The court file lists Fritsinger’s profession as “self-employed.”After Fritsinger gave the officers verbal permission to search his home, police found chemicals on his kitchen island such as thermite and ammonium nitrate, the court file reads. The officers recognized these as potential bomb-making material. They also found a substance labeled “thermite ignition mix,” as well as aluminum powder, wires, electronic boards, metal pipes and a notepad with the names of chemicals listed on it.Fritsinger “then admitted to causing explosions in his backyard with thermite in a container mixed with ammonium nitrate,” according to the MHPD report contained in the court file.MHPD officers then acquired a search warrant and the Santa Clara County Bomb Squad returned to search the property March 13. Some neighboring homes on McLaughlin Court were evacuated on March 12 after the explosions were reported, and during the March 13 search.No injuries were reported due to the explosions outside his home, according to police.Fritsinger’s home is about one block east of Monterey Road just north of downtown. The Morgan Hill Pre-School Academy and Shadow Mountain Baptist School, among other commercial properties, are nearby. Britton Middle School is about two blocks away, on the west side of Monterey Road at West Central Avenue.

Accident

This year, the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley welcomed eight new winery members to its collective—making it possible for wine lovers to visit 32 tasting rooms during the 2018 Spring Passport.

The water quality lab of the Santa Clara Valley Water District late last year participated in proficiency testing managed by the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. In the tests, the water district ranked second out of 54 participating labs nationwide, the district said in press release.