Meet a handful of first responders, representatives of the thousands in our community who give their best when the worst comes calling.
ARMANDO NEWELL
Police Officer, SWAT Team
Colorado Springs Police Department
ON THE JOB: Since 2006
BACKGROUND: Was in the Army for 20 years before joining CSPD
ON HIS WORKDAY: “My day can be go from zero to 100 mph very rapidly. If we are not actively engaged in a tactical operation, we are just like normal police officers. We go out and assist in patrol function. We may go out and look for wanted personnel, fugitives so to speak.”
ON HIS HAIRIEST MOMENT: “I can tell you, but I can’t elaborate. It would have to be Black Friday, Planned Parenthood.”
ON HIS PROUDEST MOMENT: “That’s a hard thing to say because every day is a sacrifice. Every day I come here, and it’s a proud moment because I walk away from a job having helped somebody, impacted somebody’s life and done the best I could do to do that. Simply, that’s why I do the job.”
ON BRINGING WORK HOME: “You never unsee things. You can never unremember things. … There are some things that I don’t feel as though really need to be talked about or things that are a little too gruesome and might not be something that [my wife] needs to be exposed to. There are things we talk about. We talk about my job and talk about hers as well. It helps with the healing process and growing process.”
—T.D. Mobley-Martinez. Photography by Aaron Anderson.
Read all five portraits of first responders. Watch the behind the scenes video. See different photographs in the Spring 2016 print issue.
