-
Sergeant Keith McPheeters,
Farmington NM PD
Expedition Team Leader
(Denali 2001, Aconcagua 2004, Kilimanjaro 2005)
-
Officer Spencer Berntsen,
Bremerton
WA PD
Assistant Team Leader
(Denali 2003, 2005, Aconcagua 2004, Kilimanjaro 2005)
-
Trooper Stu Frink,
Washington State Patrol
Assistant Team Leader
(Denali 2001, Aconcagua 2004, Kilimanjaro 2005)
-
Battalion Chief Kaley Erickson, USFS (retired)
Team Logistics Manager
(Denali 2005, Kilimanjaro 2005, Aconcagua 2004, Elbrus 2003)
-
Deputy Erik Wallitner,
Washoe County NV SO
(Boundary 2002, 2003, 2004)
-
Sergeant Mark Newcomb,
Whitehall OH PD
(Aconcagua 2003, Kilimanjaro 2005)
-
Officer Renato Dallenbach,
Neuchâtel
Switzerland Police Force
(Aconcagua 2004)
-
Officer Fannie Dallenbach,
Switzerland
Federal Police Force
(Aconcagua 2004)
-
Lane McPheeters,
Weber County UT SO Search and Rescue Team
(Grand Teton 2000, Gannett 2003)
-
Jim Leininger, IBM, Tucson AZ
(Aconcagua 2004)
Keith
McPheeters
Sergeant, Farmington NM Police Department
Keith McPheeters, 41, is the founder of Cops on Top and a 13-year
veteran of the Farmington NM Police Department. Keith is a Patrol
Sergeant and is currently commanding the Street Crimes Division.
Keith is married (18 years) with four children. Keith has led Cops
on Top Memorial Expeditions that have summitted Denali, Aconcagua,
Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Whitney, Gannett, the Grand Teton, and many
other Western United States mountains.
Spencer
Berntsen
Officer, Bremerton WA Police Department, Assistant
Team Leader
Spencer Berntsen, 34 years of age, is a nine year veteran of the
Bremerton Washington Police Department. Spencer has served as a
Patrol Officer, a Bicycle Officer, and is currently assigned to the
department's drug enforcement unit.
Spencer Berntsen, was the Expedition Team Leader for the successful
Cops on Top 2005 Denali Memorial Expedition. Spencer has led prior
successful expeditions to Denali, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Ishina
in Peru, Pico de Orizaba in Mexico and a vast number of mountains in
the North Cascades. Spencer, a core member of the Cops on Top
Climbing Team, participated in the successful memorial expeditions
to Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro. Elbrus will be Spencer's 4th
Continental Highpoint
Spencer is married to his beautiful wife of 12 years, Maria.
Stu
Frink
Motor Officer,
Washington State Patrol, Assistant Team Leader
Stu is an original member of Cops on Top, and a
14-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol. Stu is married and
has three daughters. Stu's brother was killed in the line of duty
for the Washington State Patrol in 1993 and knows first hand the
loss of a family when an officer is killed in the line of duty. Stu
has participated in nearly every Cops on Top Expedition and has
summitted Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Gannett, the Grand Teton,
and has climbed extensively throughout the Western United States and
the Cascades of Washington.
Kaley Erickson
Battalion Chief, United States Forest Service (retired), Team
Logistics Manager
Kaley Erickson, 55 years of age, is a retired
Battalion Chief from the United States Forest Service. Kaley lives
in Truckee, California.
In addition to climbing in the Cascades and the Sierras of
California, Kaley has stood on the highest summits of four
continents; Denali in North America, Aconcagua in South America,
Elbrus in Europe, and Kilimanjaro in Africa. Kaley has also climbed
in Mexico, Ecuador, Russia, Kazakhstan, and various European
locations. With extensive travel experience, Kaley is the logistics
expert for many of the Cops on Top climbing expeditions and has made
all logistical arrangements for the Cops on Top 2005 Elbrus Memorial
Expedition.
Kaley has two children and two grandchildren.
Erik
Wallitner
Washoe County, NV Sheriff's Office
Erik has participated in Cops on Top expeditions to Boundary Peak -
2002, 2003, 2004.
Mark
Newcomb
Sergeant, Narcotics and Vice Division, Whitehall OH Police
Department
Mark is a 20-year veteran of the Whitehall OH
Police Department and a member of their SWAT team for 16 years. Mark
is married and has 2 children. Mark has summitted Rainier, Orizaba,
Popocatepetl, Kilimanjaro, and Cerro Aconcagua.
Officer
Renato Dallenbach
Neuchâtel Switzerland Police Force
Officer
Fanny Dallenbach
Switzerland Federal Police Force
Lane
McPheeters
Weber County UT SO Search and Rescue Team
Lane McPheeters, 45, is currently Assistant Coordinator and former
Commander of the Weber County Utah Sheriff's Mountain Rescue Team.
Lane also served three years as a Volunteer Fire Fighter and Reserve
Police Officer in Idaho. Lane has been the lead climber on Cops on
Top expeditions to The Grand Teton, Granite (Montana), and Gannett
(Wyoming), some of the most arduous and remote of the State
Highpoints. Lane lives in Ogden, UT with his wife and three
children.
Jim
Leininger
IBM, Tucson AZ
Jim is a 32-year employee of IBM Corp. He participated in the 2004
Aconcagua Expedition, twice summited Mt. Whitney with the Cops on
Top September 11th Memorial, and summited Mt. Humphrey's in Arizona
in 2005 on June 5th at the same time the Denali Cops on Top memorial
team was summitting there. He has climbed in South America, the
Sierras of California, including Mt. Shasta, Arizona, and Everest
Base Camp in the Nepal.
Jim has been
married to wife Pamela for 33 years and has 2 children and 2 grand
children.
It is with great pleasure that we embark on yet another adventure,
yet, as always, our adventure has been tempered with yet another
loss a fellow police officer. It is our hope that by
thus honoring Officer Thomas Steiner that his name and legacy and
those of other fallen officers
will still be remembered in honor and that their memories will not soon fade.
We also wish to assure Officer Steiner's family that he will never be
forgotten.
