SCC Grad Apprehends One of America's Most Wanted:
The Inside Story
By Melissa Pendergast

Murphy Police Officer, Jeffrey Postell, apprehended Eric Robert Rudolph just one year after graduating from Southwestern Community College's Basic Law Enforcement Training Program.

"I'm not a celebrity, and I'm not a hero. I'm a police officer and this was just part of the job."

Jeffrey Postell, the Murphy police officer that recently detained suspected serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, graduated from Southwestern's Basic Law Enforcement Training Program just one year ago. He attributes some of that training to his successful capture of one of America's Most Wanted on May 31.

"I'm not lucky," said Postell. "I was just doing what I was trained to do."
Postell, whose shift was almost over, decided to make one final check behind the Sav-A-Lot shopping center before returning to the station. He turned off his lights and radio, rolled down his windows and eased behind the building when someone caught his eye.

"At 3:30 in the morning in Murphy, you don't just have people behind closed businesses," said Postell.

When Postell pulled behind the shopping center, he saw a man run and hide behind a stack of milk crates. Seeing something that resembled a weapon in his hand, Postell drew his firearm, took cover behind his car and demanded the man lie face down on the ground.

"The subject control, investigating and patrolling techniques I learned at Southwestern all came into play that night. If I hadn't turned my headlights off I probably wouldn't have caught him. I'm a walking example that training works."
When back up arrived, Postell approached the man to find out the suspicious object in his hand was merely a flashlight, so he began questioning the man, first asking him to identify himself.

"When I asked him his name, he supplied me with a fake name. He looked homeless and was obviously hungry, so I took him in for false identification and for safekeeping."

Upon returning to the station with the suspect, a fellow officer remarked on the suspect's uncanny resemblance to Eric Robert Rudolph. Postell pulled up the FBI's Most Wanted web page and printed off Rudolph's picture for a closer examination.
"When I looked at the photo, I noticed a scar on his chin. I turned to look at the man and saw the same scar," said Postell. "I kind of got scared and excited. He also had the same receding hairline and attached earlobe.

"When we went back in there and asked him his name again, he said 'Eric Robert Rudolph.' I think when he spoke those words every one of us had hair standing up on the back of our necks. It wasn't only what he said, but when he said it he sort of laughed."

The shock of those words hit Postell hard, but he quickly remembered what had been drilled into him time and time again in his BLET courses.

"I had to take a few minutes for myself. I knew a lot of people were soon going to be wanting details, so I sat down and wrote out my reports. I had to be sure I had every detail in the report."

Postell's report described the eventful evening in articulate detail. After writing the report, he found himself pacing the floor until the FBI confirmed the man he had captured was in fact Eric Robert Rudolph. When the FBI's call came in, he picked up the phone to make an important phone call of his own.

"I called Mama and let her know that I was going to be late. I told her to just watch CNN and she would see why."

That night proved to be one of the longest in his life. The FBI, the media frenzy, the questions. But Officer Postell handled it all with confidence and professionalism.

And Mama? Postell said that she was certainly proud of him, but he said she could be just as proud without showing off anymore of his baby pictures.

Career Focus Table of Contents - Summer 2003

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