Szabo Connection
Marine Corps veteran Richard Szabo, recently featured by KHTS, urged me to interview his former LAPD SWAT team pal and Army veteran, Terry Speer, so I contacted Terry and we met.

Terry not only honorably served his country, but he honorably served with the LAPD for 25 years and moved on to become a pastor with Grace Community Church.

U.S. Army Volunteer
Terry C. Speer was born May 27, 1941 in Buffalo, New York, but he grew up in Lancaster and attended Lancaster Central Senior High School.

Terry C. Speer Army Portrait

Before graduating on June 19, 1959, Terry was a three-year member on his high school wrestling team and worked part-time as a grocery clerk.

After high school, the realization that Terry could be drafted into the U.S. Army urged him to volunteer for the draft in April 1960.

Terry attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then took on advanced individual training in artillery for eight weeks at Fort Still in Oklahoma.

Following artillery training, Terry’s unit filed into a large auditorium to receive orders for their next assignment. Everyone expected deployment to South Vietnam, as our troop build-up was slowly underway.

Terry said, “I thought I totally lucked out receiving orders for Germany with many of my fellow soldiers assigned to South Vietnam.”

Friedberg Army Base
Following Terry’s training and a two-week leave of absence, he traveled by troops ship to Germany, which led him to serve the last stint of his two-year Army commitment in Ray Barracks at Friedberg Army Base near Frankfurt.

During Terry’s service with the 27^th Artillery Battalion at Friedberg, Soviet Union troops began installing the infamous Berlin Wall.  Other than the Berlin Wall, Terry remembers his service being uneventful.

During off hours, Terry thoroughly enjoyed visiting Paris, Italy, Amsterdam, Switzerland and surrounding countries.  In April of 1962, Terry completed his Army service, which qualified him for an honorable discharge.

Once he got honorably discharged, Terry returned to his parents’ home. Terry’s first order of business after landing at home was securing employment and purchasing a cool 1963 Bonneville convertible.

Terry C. Speer at Lower Right

Law Enforcement
It didn’t take Terry long before he landed a job with Nabisco Company making Muffet Cereal (shredded wheat) for the next year, but his goal was becoming a law enforcement officer, so he applied all over his region.

As a young man, Terry saw the iconic western movie, “Shane,” featuring Alan Ladd, who portrayed a heroic gunfighter who stood up for innocent farmers. This movie impacted Terry, leading him to pursue law enforcement.

In the 1950s, Terry read about a young girl who was being attacked and no one came to her rescue.  Terry said, “People ignored her plight and simply closed their windows.” This terrible incident impacted Terry.

Terry C. Speer LAPD Portrait

The daunting problem for Terry, at 5’ 9” tall, was that back east, height requirements were 6’.

However, a friend told him that the Los Angeles Police Department was hiring and their height requirement was 5’ 8”.

Soon after the news of LAPD hiring, Terry packed his 1957 Plymouth with all of his personal possessions and drove off to sunny Southern California.

“I had $300 in cash. I slept in my car and feasted on fast food all the way to Los Angeles,” Terry reflects.

Lala Land
In mid 1963 upon arrival in Los Angeles, Terry rented a back room from a friend at $60 per month and promptly landed a security guard job while beginning the process of entering LAPD’s Police Academy.

In August of 1964, Terry was accepted to the academy, and just three months later, he graduated and was assigned to South Central L.A.’s Newton Division for one year. There he earned the nickname “Shootin’ Newton.”

Before leaving, the massive and infamous six-day Watts District Riot erupted. Terry said, “It was absolute anarchy. Looting and fire bombing businesses was completely out of control for several days, and it was so bad that many officers brought their own weapons into the fray.”

The primary reason Terry chose law enforcement was his desire to be the good guy and to help people in distress.

Soon after, Terry volunteered as an original member for the then secret SWAT team with fellow officers Rich Szabo, Bob Burke and Patrick McKinley.

Terry C. Speer LAPD Inspection

Terry stood with SWAT for 18 months after becoming a rifleman marksman.  While serving with SWAT, their most critical operation happened on December 8, 1968, where they served search warrants to Black Panther Party members at their headquarters.

A substantial gun fight broke out, with more than 5,000 rounds fired between SWAT team officers and Black Panther members, but amazingly enough, there were no deaths.

Terry C. Speer LAPD Physical Training

Sudden Love
In 1965, Terry visited his grandmother in Kentucky, and while he was there, his cousin introduced him to Jane Coleman.

The next day, Terry escorted Jane to church and the two immediately became comfortable with each other.

Terry was smitten, but alas, he had to begin his long drive back to Los Angeles within days.

Upon arrival back home, Terry became determined to marry his sweetheart, so he called Jane and proposed marriage.

Jane said yes to Terry and it wasn’t long before he drove back to Kentucky.

Terry and Jane were married in Owensboro’s First Baptist Church on February 19, 1966.  The couple went on to have two children and six grandchildren.

Terry and Jane are just approaching the eve of their 54^th wedding anniversary.

Balancing Toughness and Compassion
Throughout Terry’s long and distinguished career, he experienced too many dangerous situations to mention here, but the highlight of his career was serving 13 years as a Police Academy instructor.

Terry C. Speer Pastor Portrait

Terry enjoyed training recruits, and he placed great emphasis on ethics balancing toughness, caution and compassion.

Terry said, “If you don’t respect citizens, you’re in the wrong job.”

Before retirement, Terry was ordained as a minister and he “planted” a church in Acton, serving there for 18 years.

In 2006, Terry began teaching at San Fernando Valley’s Grace Community Church. Meanwhile, Terry earned his Associate degree in police science.

Terry also began marathon running with LAPD’s running team, which led him to running in the Boston Marathon and a run to San Diego and San Francisco.

Terry, your long and honorable service to our community is greatly appreciated.

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