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CONTRA COSTA SHERIFF
POLICE PIPES & DRUMS
In the spring of
2003, the idea of a police pipe band for the Contra Costa County Office of
the Sheriff was conceived by Sergeant Gary Gifford. Gary had been learning
the bagpipes for about a year and realized that such a large agency with
enough interest within the ranks could assemble a police pipe and drum
corps. Although many bagpipe bands have in their title "Police Pipes and
Drums", most of these bands on the West Coast are civilian bands sponsored
by police agencies.
 The word went
forth, and within a couple of months several other department members
undertook the daunting task of learning to play the bagpipes. As luck
would have it, the department had within its ranks several accomplished
drummers and student pipers who favored the idea of a department band. In
a second stroke of good fortune, Police Academy Student Ryan Sullivan, a
highly accomplished competitive piper saw the band flyer, joined the band
and was hired as a Deputy Sheriff in January 2005.
The band had its
first weekly rehearsal in April of 2004 with two of its members having had
lessons for less than a year. The band struggled at first with learning
how to blow the pipes, developing stamina and learning tunes. The true
difficulty of playing the bagpipes with a group then became apparent and
individual practice sessions, although a labor of love, became as intense
as a second career. By fall 2004, the music began to fall into place
with still much work ahead: Learning to march, adding the drum line, and
polishing the music.
Initially, band
members paid for their uniforms out of their own pockets to the tune of
about $1000 each, and drums were borrowed from another local pipe band.
 The band’s first
performance was scheduled for May 1, 2005 which was a fundraising dinner
for the band. The tragic murder of Pittsburg Police officer Larry Lasater
in the line of duty brought with it a request for the band to play the
funeral. On May 2, 2005, the day after the fundraiser, the band
assembled to play the funeral in front of nearly 5000 mourners. Several
members had never played anything in front of an audience except for the
fundraiser the night before. Everyone was very nervous, but the practice
paid off, and the band gave a memorable performance.
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