"On Saturday, April 16, the East Valley Tribune published an article entitled “SWAT idea takes a swing at crime – E.V. officer suggests making skillful monkey part of team.” The article was based on discussions between Tribune reporter Kristina Davis and SWAT Officer Sean Truelove while Davis attended the Department’s SWAT school in March. The article stated that the Mesa Police Department is seeking approximately $100,000 in federal grant money to purchase a monkey for use in SWAT operations. In fact, this was exploratory in nature, as an inquiry was made by Officer Truelove as he conducted research into the feasibility of the idea.

While Officer Truelove explored the idea of training a capuchin monkey for special-ops intelligence, and submitted an inquiry to the U.S. Department of Defense, the idea was never approved for use in Mesa SWAT operations. Truelove sought guidance from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency regarding the cost and feasibility of the project; however, the action should not be considered an official Mesa Police Department grant request, as it was never formally presented to, or approved by the Department’s Command Staff.

“While we have always encouraged our Department members to seek creative and innovative ways to improve public safety in our community, we regret any conclusions that were reached based on Saturday’s Tribune article,” said Mesa Police Chief Dennis Donna. “The purchase of a capuchin monkey has not been considered by executive staff and I would like to be certain that any media covering this story is properly informed.”

Additional inquiries can be addressed to the Mesa Police Department’s Media Relations Office."

http://citydoc.cityofmesa.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/news/nr_swat_monkey_041805.hcsp#TopOfPage