About 30 percent of heart attacks, stroke and deaths from heart disease can be prevented for high risk individuals by adjusting eating habits to mimic those of Spain, Greece and Italy according to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine this week.

A diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables, while low in dairy, sweets and red meats has commonly been referenced as a healthier approach. The new study, conducted by Spanish researchers for almost five years, is the first major clinical trial to measure the diet's effect on cardiovascular risks, The New York Times reported. This Mediterranean method even allows drinking wine with meals.

The study included 7,447 subjects - men and women aged 55 to 80, all at risk for but not diagnosed with heart disease. Subjects either had type 2 diabetes, or at least 3 risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, family history or were smokers. Most of the subjects were already taking blood pressure or diabetes medication to lower their chance for heart disease.

Subjects were randomly assigned to 3 different groups, one given a low-fat, control diet, one given a Mediterranean diet high in olive oil, and the third given a nut-based Mediterranean diet. The low-fat diet group was found less likely to follow restrictions, perhaps attributed to their lessened counseling at the beginning of the study. This essentially transformed the study to the usual, modern Northern European or American eating habits against the Mediterranean diet. Subjects experienced quarterly checkups and were provided either olive oil, nuts, or nonfood gift items accordingly.

The magnitude of the study shocked and impressed experts. Rachel Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, told The New York Times that the study "used very meaningful endpoints. They did not look at risk factors...They looked at heart attacks and strokes and death. At the end of the day, that's what really matters."

Even if no weight loss was detected, the diet was proven to help lower health risks. The study even ended ahead of schedule, as the results were so clear that it was decided unethical to continue.

Dr. Ramon Esturch, a professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona and his colleagues were so impressed with the results of their study that they themselves reportedly are now following the diet.

A pedestrian flew into the air after he was struck in a hit-and-run collision on a Hillcrest street police said.

San Diego police officers were searching for a brown Nissan or Toyota with front end damage and Illinois license plates.

They say a vehicle fitting that description struck a man in his 40s near 6th and Evans in Hillcrest around 8:20 p.m. Monday.

“The vehicle that was following behind the suspect vehicle actually saw the man's body flying in the air and land on the ground,” said Lt. David Rohowits. “That person stopped as well as several other witnesses.”

Officials say the man was struck as he stepped into the street outside of the crosswalk.

The suspect vehicle swerved to avoid the man, but couldn't according to witnesses.

Instead the driver hit the victim at a high rate of speed and took off leaving the man unconscious with severe head trauma and a broken arm police said.

Eugene Shapiro told NBC 7 San Diego he heard the crash and saw the person on the ground.

“The car just took off right away. Didn't stop for a moment. I ran over to make sure he was alive,” Shapiro said.

Investigators will be checking surveillance video from nearby restaurants. They said they will also continue questioning witnesses to the crash. 

A woman's body parts were found in suitcases and plastic bags strewn throughout a New York City neighborhood early Tuesday by a man and his 12-year-old son walking their dog, law enforcement officials said.

Police have identified the victim as Tania Byrd, a 45-year-old woman who has been missing since the weekend. They think Byrd was dismembered at her apartment in the Bronx, and they have a suspect in custody who has made statements implicating himself, NBC 4 New York has learned.

Sources have said Byrd's son, who called police to report her missing Tuesday morning, was being questioned Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials tell NBC 4 New York that the man walking his dog along 158th Street came upon a plastic bag of what he thought were books. As he moved to open the bag, he noticed a gray Dodge Charger circling the block, so he took the bag around the corner and looked inside, finding two hands and a shoulder.

He sent his son to call police and continued walking the dog. About two blocks away on Eagle Avenue he and the dog came upon a suitcase, and the dog sat down next to it. The man opened the suitcase and found a woman's torso, wearing a bra, according to law enforcement officials.

Responding police found a plastic bag further down Eagle Avenue that contained a leg and a foot, and then nearby on Cauldwell Avenue, they found a black suitcase with a leg and the woman's head.

Law enforcement officials tell NBC 4 New York they found an empty box in her apartment that they believe contained a power saw. The apartment also smelled of bleach and was littered with latex gloves.

A construction crew doing excavation work struck a gas line just outside a new supermarket just hours before it opens.

Firefighters were called to 2720 Via de la Valle in Del Mar at 7:30 a.m.

Construction crews working at the Flower Hill Mall shopping center hit a 2-inch-natural-gas-line.

Approximately 150 people were evacuated from the stores including a soon-to-open Whole Foods Market where employees were finishing up before a planned opening tomorrow.

Barry Robins owns nearby Milton's restaurant. He estimates his business lost about $2500 because the restaurant was closed for an hour and a half.

"We're usually full in the morning and we bake all of our goods fresh so we had to stop the bakery and stop production and get everybody out," Robins said.

Workers from San Diego Gas & Electric arrived and replaced the line.

After almost two hours, everyone in the center was given the okay to return to their stores and businesses.

There were no health related problems or injuries from the ruptured gas line according to San Diego Fire Rescue.

Two giant breasts are scheduled to cross Antarctica this coming November. 

Australian veterinarian and thrill-seeker, Geoff Wilson has just flown to Canada to begin training to beat the world record of traversing the continent in 64 days, according to Australian newspaper The Courier Mail. The previous and first ever record for a solo, unsupported trek across the 1,675-mile strip was set by a Norweigan in 1997.

Wilson will be traveling alone, using only skis and kites, dragging a fiberglass "boob sled" full of enough survival supplies for 80 days. The 400-pound breasts are actually modeled after Wilson's wife bust, the expedition's Facebook page explains.

Inspired by friend and breast cancer survivor, Kate Carlyle, Wilson aims to raise $1 million Australian dollars for the McGrath Foundation charity. Named "The Pink Polar Expedition," Wilson hopes his adventure will encourage young women to check their breasts and be aware of breast cancer risks.

The Gold Coast native has already crossed the Sahara and Simpson Desserts as well as the Toreros Strait, Gold Coast News reports. Although his breast-themed sled seems silly to most, the journey Wilson is embarking on is a serious challenge. "It's a very high risk expedition so we really will be taking every precaution possible," he told The Courier-Mail.

Wilson's friend Carlyle is currently battling her second round of cancer and plans to watch the start of the expedition from a Russian Antarctic base. "She is halfway through her expedition and I'm just about to start," Wilson said. "Her bravery will carry me through." 

Among the many documents that Supreme Court justices have to consider when deciding a case, amicus briefs are generally predictable and inconsequential: they come from groups who advocate a long-held position but aren't directly involved in the arguments.

Then there's the one being drafted by a group of prominent Republicans in support of gay marriage.

This particular amicus brief exposes a growing fissure within the GOP and could arguably influence the thinking of one or more of the justices, who are considering two cases that could determine whether bans on gay marriage are legal, experts say.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that dozens of current and former GOP leaders, including two members of Congress, four ex-governors and the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, are preparing to submit an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief this week arguing that Proposition 8, a California law prohibiting same-sex marriage, should be toppled.

The move contradicts the party's official position and defies House Republicans, who in a separate case took up the defense of a federal law denying benefits to same-sex spouses after President Barack Obama chose not to.

The high court is scheduled to begin hearing arguments on the California and federal laws next month.

The Republican group's new brief will say that same-sex marriages promote the conservative ideals of strong family values and individual freedom, according to the Times.

That would be a twist on the traditional Republican argument for limiting marriage to a man and a woman.

It would also present another sign that opponents of gay marriage are becoming the minority.

Polls show that Americans are increasingly accepting of gay marriage. The number of states where it is legal has grown to nine, with five more allowing civil unions and three — including California — permitting domestic partnerships. Last spring, Obama announced that he'd changed his mind and now felt comfortable with same-sex marriage. He highlighted the issue in his inaugural address last month, and may submit his own amicus brief on the Proposition 8 case.

Many legal experts say it is inevitable that bans on same-sex marriages will be eliminated from American life.

So the Republicans' amicus brief can be seen as an effort to nudge the GOP—and the high court—to the right side of history.

Supreme Court justices tend not to want to take a position on a case that could soon be considered obsolete.

"The justices aren't unaware that attitudes on this issue are changing rapidly," said G. Edward White, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and a scholar of Supreme Court history.

"They have to think about that: do they want to be associated with a position that's going to be overruled? In that context, the fact that these prominent conservative politicians put their names on a brief in support of same-sex marriage is a little bit of a signal. These people, who are in the business of reputational currency, have concluded that the thrust of politics is going to be in favor of this, and (the justices) should get on board."

Jane Schacter, a constitutional law expert at Stanford Law School, said the power of the Republicans' amicus brief lies in the fact that many of the people who have reportedly signed it are people who have argued against the legality of same-sex marriage in the past. As people get used to the concept, the arguments against it "kind of evaporate and start to look like a pretext for discrimination rather than rational policy reasons."

In the end, the central argument becomes: what is the compelling legal reason to keep same-sex couples from marrying? Tradition, Schacter said, isn't enough.

"Justices don't want to be seen as the last gasp of a kind of retrograde resistance to this kind of idea when things are moving so quickly," she said.

The Republicans' filing has the potential of being the most influential amicus brief since 29 retired military officers weighed in on a 2003 Supreme Court decision on affirmative action at the University of Michigan, Schacter said. The court ruled in favor of the policy, and cited the officers' brief.

Among those who have reportedly signed the Republican amicus brief are Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Rep. Richard Hanna of New York, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Massachusetts Govs. William Weld and Jane Swift, former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who is openly gay, and several former advisers to former President George W. Bush.

They will effectively join forces with another prominent conservative, Ted Olson, former President George W. Bush's solicitor general and a lead lawyer for the group seeking to overturn California's ban.

Several of the co-signers, including Huntsman, had previously spoken in opposition to gay marriage.

"I think that this is one of those…unusual situations where the justices will certainly notice the signatories on this brief," White said.

Many Supreme Court observers predict that eight of the nine justices will be divided on the issue, with Justice Anthony Kennedy representing a swing vote. He was presumably the main target of the amicus brief.

"The fact that more and more Republicans are coming out in favor of gay marriage simply confirms how dramatic the shift in public opinion has been — and that is a fact that likely is of great significance to Justice Kennedy," Michael Klarman, a Harvard Law School professor and author of “From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage,” told NBC News in a email.

But White said he will also be looking at two other right-leaning members of the court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, as possible wild cards.

In that scenario, a one-sided decision seems more plausible.

Just how much they will be influenced by the Republicans' brief is impossible to know.

"I'd say it might have some weight," White said. "I doubt very much that a particular justice will say, 'I was going to go the other way, and then I saw that the few Republican politicians had signed on.' But it's a reminder that the issue is changing rapidly in the direction of support of gay marriage."

A Ramona homeowner faces a murder charge for shooting and killing a man in an argument over pot officials said.

Miles Lockhart, 52, was arrested early Tuesday at the home on Walnut Street where the shooting occurred five months ago.

Shane M. Tatro, 38, of Ramona, went to Lockhart's home on Sunday, Sept. 16.

According to homicide investigators with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, Lockhart and Tatro got into an argument over marijuana. 

Lockhart’s adult son got involved and grabbed a gun from inside the house officials said. He ordered Tatro to leave at gunpoint according to officials.

Deputies believe there was a struggle over the gun and Tatro was shot. 

Lockhart's son has not been charged deputies said Tuesday.

A 61-year-old surfer nearly drowned at La Jolla Shores on Tuesday afternoon, according to lifeguards.

The man was found face-down in the water around noon near 8260 Camino Del Oro. Lifeguards said he had no pulse.

Lifeguards pulled the surfer out of the water and shocked the man with a defibrillator and the man began breathing.

When medics loaded the surfer into an ambulance, he was conscious and speaking.

Thousands will travel to San Diego this week for a trade show offering the newest innovations in road safety.

“This is where you see the latest and greatest in roadway safety stuff,” said James Baron with the American Traffic Safety Services Association.

The Fredricksburg, Va. company organizes the trade show that’s been attracting its members for 43 years.

The San Diego Convention Center is packed with everything from stripes, signs and guardrails to crash cushions and rumble strips.

Attendees can check out everything from guard rails with the look of natural wood to the massive thermoplastic striper that creates those lines on the roads for dividers and crosswalks.

Flashing lights that run on AC, battery or solar power are set up for hands-on demonstrations.

Participants travel to San Diego from as far away as New Zealand and China to visit hundreds of booths offering items that may help keep roads safer.

“There’s a lot of science that goes into this stuff,” Baron said. “Brighter stripes on the road that reflect at night that you can see when it’s raining and when it’s foggy out.”

“It’s just really some interesting stuff,” he said.
 

A deputy shot by a man in Encinitas last week is recovering and in good spirits, his family said on Tuesday.

Colin Snodgrass, 27, took a bullet in the leg during a SWAT standoff on Feb. 20. Doctors expect he will make a full recovery, but expect he will be in the hospital for 2-3 more weeks.

"Everything has been very positive so far," Sheriff William Gore told NBC 7 on Monday. "We were very concerned about what type of use he would have of his leg, about the circulation the nerve damage."

The family issued a statement Tuesday to provide an update on Snodgrass' condition and thank local deputies for their assistance.

"They have demonstrated true devotion and brotherhood,” said one family member.

Snodgrass is expected to undergo more surgeries before his wedding in mid-March.

The other deputy shot in the incident, 31-year-old James Steinmeyer, is already home from the hospital. He suffered a minor head wound.

A relief fund has been set up for Snodgrass to cover the costs of his injuries. To donate, visit a San Diego County Credit Union or donate in person at the Deputy Sheriff's Association. The account is under "Deputy Colin Snodgrass Support Fund."

The driver who narrowly avoided striking a young girl during a dangerous high-speed police pursuit through South LA was identified as Brittani Collins, 25, of Los Angeles.

Collins, with the hood of her pink sweatshirt covering her head, ran from a silver Lexus Tuesday afternoon after sideswiping a bus and crashing over a curb at the end of a pursuit on South LA freeways and surface streets.

The crash occurred just minutes after a male occupant -- identified a Melvin Lane, 30, of Long Beach -- ran from the silver late-model Lexus sedan in a residential area, prompting a brief search.

California Highway Patrol units pursued the pair wanted in connection with burglarizing a home in the 2900 block of Olympic View Drive in Chino Hills. The pursuit flew along the 110, 710 and 91 freeways before the driver in a silver Lexus sedan transitioned to surface streets in South LA.

The driver nearly struck a girl and adult female as the pedestrians began to cross a street in South LA. The adult, holding the girl's hand, pulled the girl back onto the sidewalk just as she stepped into the street and the Lexus arrived at the intersection.

The pursuit driver swerved to avoid another vehicle that was exiting from a parking lot.

At about 1 p.m., a man on a cell phone exited the Lexus and ran into a residential area near Vermont and Normandie avenues. About 20 minutes later, aerial video showed authorities taking Lane into custody.

The pursuit ended in a shower of trim pieces when Collins attempted to drive the Lexus between a bus and parked car, but sideswiped both vehicles. After she crashed over a curb, the woman -- wearing a pink hoodie and pink shoes, and holding a cell phone to her ear -- ran from the car near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Normandie Avenue (map).

She was taken into custody behind a building in a residential area.

The late Chargers great Junior Seau joined a handful of big-name athletes who were inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions Breitbard Hall of Fame Monday night.

Seau died at age 43 of a self-inflicted gunshot in May.

His career was honored at the annual Salute to Champions dinner held Monday night at Town and Country Convention Center.

In a rare public appearance, his ex-wife and children were there on his behalf.

They're the true legacy of Junior Seau.

Four children honoring their father on a stage under the bright lights - a place Junior always thrived.

His 17-year NFL career got its beginnings on the football field at Oceanside High School.

Through his career as a San Diego Charger, Seau was voted to 12 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1991 to 2002.

After his retirement from professional football in 2009, Seau returned to San Diego where he continued to interact with fans at his Mission Valley restaurant.

After his death, the San Diego Chargers held a public memorial on the field at Qualcomm Stadium. In September, they retired his jersey - the iconic #55.

He''ll soon have a plaque at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

It’s an honor his family says was bittersweet.

"It's just difficult for them to come and be here in his absence and be here to accept an award we wish he was here to accept," said Junior’s ex-wife Gina Seau.

Gina Seau attended with an unwanted spotlight brought on by the star linebacker's death and her pursuit of legal action against the NFL.

The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in January that blames the NFL for hiding the dangers of repetitive blows to the head.

The lawsuit says Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from those hits, and accuses the NFL of deliberately ignoring and concealing evidence of the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries.

Special Section: Junior Seau

While so many un-asked and un-answered questions linger Monday was a night about the life of Junior, nothing more.

"Anytime I go through Oceanside, I think of Junior and all the things he was able to accomplish here in San Diego," said former San Diego Padres pitcher Trevor Hoffman who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame Monday.

Chargers CEO A.G. Spanos said the team retired Junior’s number last year and inducted him into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 2011.

"If you were to create a football Mount Rushmore for San Diego, Junior would be absolutely on it," Spanos said.

As a video tribute played - some called the night therapeutic.

Spanos said the tribute is part of the healing process for the community.

“There are mixed emotions,” Spanos said recalling the former player’s warm smile. “Obviously his passing was as tragic as it gets. So bittersweet is a good way to put it.”

"We'll always be a part of this community and grateful and thankful for what Junior gave to the community and what the community has done for him quite honestly," Gina Seau said.

A chance to remember the athlete who loved San Diego and who San Diego loved right back.

The inductees made up one of the strongest classes ever to enter the Hall of Champions at one time.

Along with Junior Seau, Sockers star Brian Quinn was honored. Quinn who played on the team from 1983-1991 returned as its coach from 2001-2004. He's currently an assistant coach at the University of San Diego and a director of the San Diego Soccer Club.

Three-time Super Bowl guard Steven Neal also entered the Hall because of his wrestling credentials while a student at San Diego High.

A person wanted on an outstanding warrant ran from law enforcement officers wearing only a T-shirt and shoes and prompted the lockdown of a nearby elementary school.

Chula Vista police and San Diego County sheriff’s deputies responded to Montgomery Street arount 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.

U.S. Marshal's confirmed Daniel Aceves (pictured right) is a federal fugitive wanted on a probation violation.

Aceves is wanted for aiding and smuggling, DUI and assault with a deadly weapon (not a firearm) according to the U.S. Marshal's office.

Otay Elementary School, located on Albany Avenue, was placed on lockdown as a precaution according to police.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

FBI agents in San Diego are shifting focus from closing down medical marijuana dispensaries to cracking down on marijuana delivery services.

The services called mobile dispensary agents advertise in the back of magazines and newspapers as a way for medicinal marijuana users to get their pot delivered.

William Sherman is the San Diego DEA's top commander and he believes mobile dispensary agents are "no different than a guy selling dime bags in the back of a van in Pacific Beach.”

“That's just a drug dealer" Sherman said.

The U.S. Attorney's office sent warning letters to operators and landlords of medicinal marijuana dispensaries in San Diego ordering them to shut down their businesses.

Landlords who rented to pot shops were warned to evict their tenants or face prosecution and lose their property.

For the past year and a half law enforcement officers executing raids on dispensaries have been a common sight all over San Diego County.

During that time federal agents have seized pot and cash estimated in the tens of millions of dollars money from more than 230 dispensaries.

Most have complied with just a handful of dispensaries still operating. Only 18 are left according to Sherman.

Sherman says people who deliver pot usually have armed guards with them because they are often targetted by robbers which leads to violent confrontations in neighborhoods.

That's one reason why the DEA is getting ready to shut down every mobile dispensary agents can find.

"I'd like to say by summertime, we'd like to have them all closed, that would be our goal," Sherman told NBC 7 San Diego in an exclusive interview.

He said state laws involving marijuana are confusing, and drug dealers are using that to their advantage by selling pot to people who claim to need it for medicinal purposes.

"None of them are caregivers,” he said. “None of them are there for non-profit that's for sure and none of them fit anybody's definition of a collective or cooperative."

“They’re not about going after drug dealers. They’re about shutting down safe access,” said Jessica McElfresh, a San Diego-based medical marijuana collective attorney.

McElfresh cited two key cases, People vs. Colvin and People vs. Jackson, as two examples of the distribution of medicinal marijuana being upheld by the California State Supreme Court.

“What they’ve made clear,” she said referring to the DEA. “That they have no desire to respect state law.

McElfresh said that state law allows for medical marijuana collectives to offer delivery services. She suggests federal agents pick their poison.

“If the DEA is so unhappy with this current model they should have thought about that before they shut down all the dispensaries,” McElfresh said

Sherman won't say exactly when his agents are planning to take down the mobile dispensaries but he did say it will be very soon.

A man who allegedly shot and seriously wounded two sheriff's deputies in September was stabbed last weekend in a jail assault, according to the sheriff's department.

Daniel Witczak, 30, was assaulted with a sharp object, according to deputy spokesperson Jan Caldwell. He is currently recovering from the non-life threatening injuries he sustained.

Witczak is behind bars for three counts of attempted murder of an officer and eight counts of sexual assault on underage girls.

He is accused of shooting officers during a 15-minute gun battle last September.Both deputies who were shot survived, but have dealt with multiple injuries following the incident.

Witczak is being held without bail and will appear in court next month.

Oceanside Police are searching for a man who was masturbating in public while peering through apartment windows, looking at women.

The first incident happened yesterday morning at an apartment complex in the 1300-block of Puls Street. Then the man did the same thing at another apartment complex in the 1200-block of El Camino Real. Both incidents happened from 10:30 to 11 a.m.

Police describe the man as 20-to-25-years-old, with a thin build. He was seen wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

He drove off in an older, tan four-door sedan, believed to be a Toyota Camry, said officials.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Oceanside Police Department.

Church leaders at the St. Jude’s Shrine said they have run out of funding to keep their senior nutrition program going.

The meal service has been a longtime fixture in San Diego, giving elderly residents a place to turn to for a warm meal. For nearly 40 years the St. Jude’s Shrine Catholic Church has been providing meals for more than 100 seniors a day.

The program will end by June, ending meal services for dozens of people who rely on the program in the communities of Southcrest, Logan Heights and Sherman Heights.

The program asks for a $3 donation, but if a person cannot afford to make that donation, they are never turned away. The county subsidizes 75 percent of the program and the rest comes from the church, according to church staff.

Staff members say church leaders can no longer afford to pay their portion and now they want to use the space for other church activities.

But for the people who either work here or rely on this program for their own well-being, it's a great loss. 

“We have a lot of people that are seniors that don't have cooking facilities they don't have any transportation and a couple of them this is the place where they spend the whole day,” said Ernie Chavas who works at the program.

Many others are afraid they'll have nowhere to go for meals.

“I have hard time finding this place believe me…and now I don't know what I'll do,” said participant Gloria Conarroe.

Chavas also said once the service ends, he will no longer have a job.

Just last year the church closed their daycare center and a school because they ran out of funding.

A petition is being distributed to try and prevent the program from closing, but right now church leaders say they've made up their mind and the program is scheduled to end June 30.

The San Diego Police Department's SWAT unit will be outfitted with dozens of new guns thanks to thousands of dollars in donations from local businesses.

Dozens of officers gathered Tuesday to swap out their older model guns for 84 new guns considered to be more reliable with brighter lights and quieter suppressors.

"The guns that we're using now are primarily Vietnam era weapons that were converted from M-16s to AR-16s,” said Lt. Mark Hanten, SWAT Commanding Officer.

“They're 20-inch barrel long guns, and they're pretty worn out."

Hanten’s team received 84 new guns that cost approximately $175,000 – money provided by local businesses through the annual Citizens for SWAT golf tournament. Seventy local businesses contributed to the purchase of new equipment.

“When all that stands between you and danger is a San Diego police officer you want to ensure that that officer has the tools at their disposal to protect our community,” said City Councilmember Kevin Faulconer.

“This helps fill the gap from what the city can provide and it's so great to see how the community supports this police department and how they support the SWAT team," Faulconer said.

Lt. Hanten says there’s a wide gap between what taxpayers can afford and what his team actually needs.

The next thing on their wish list is new body armor for the entire team.