Greg Oster has spent over 35 years in law enforcement with the Boise Police Department and with his own company, SPAR Tactical, LLC. Among his many positions within the Boise Police Department, he was primarily on the SWAT entry team and was a sniper. He was also a patrol tactics instructor and he trained officers on use of force techniques and how to de-escalate situations. His mission to serve and protect his community and the citizens who are his neighbors has been at the very core of his values throughout his career in law enforcement.

“I always taught my officers that when you take the oath of office, you are swearing that you will support and defend the people whether you agree with them or not,” he explains. “For me, I was always focused on the mission of protecting victims and children. I really wanted to make sure I had an impact on people’s lives in a positive way by saving my officers and saving the people.”

Greg’s path to becoming an officer and mentor began when he entered college at the age of 18. He started as a business major at Boise State University and admits like many young kids that he had no idea what he wanted to do when he grew up. A criminal justice class taught by a former law enforcement officer piqued his interest. There were a few young officers also in the class, and they took him under their wing and became friends. Greg recalls they asked him if he ever had thought about being a cop. During the summer between his first and second year of college, his officer friends asked him if he wanted to go on a ride-along. That experience showed Greg that he wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Greg considers himself to be very fortunate, but relying on fortune would undermine how exceptionally hard-working he is. At the age of 19, he was a full-time student and also worked a full-time job. On the weekends, he also worked two additional part-time jobs, including being a ticket taker at a theater. He studied in between shows and maintained passing grades. “My diet was basically all the Coke products and popcorn that I could eat,” he recalls of his teenage self.

Around the same time, one of Greg’s friends told him the Boise PD had a reserve officer program. Greg didn’t think he’d get accepted, but he spoke with his high school resource officer who encouraged him to apply. In October, he became a Boise PD reserve officer.

“Any night that I wasn’t working or doing homework, I was doing ride-alongs,” he says. “Over Christmas and Spring Break, I spent 40 hours a week in the field. I was hooked.”

The following June, the Boise PD wanted to hire him into their officer candidate training program. Greg demurred, wanting to continue taking more classes at BSU, however the week before his 20th birthday the Department came back and asked again. That time he accepted and started on a path of going from part-time reserve officer to full-time. He worked the university and airport beats for two years and was promoted to patrol. Several years later, he joined the SWAT team as a sniper where in his first year he was assigned to entry tactics.

Greg started training and teaching SWAT after a harrowing incident where he nearly made a fatal error in judgment. He was a young officer in 1985 and was trying to find his place in the world and on the police force. Along that journey, he knew he felt strongly about domestic abuse. Unlike today, where the primary aggressor goes to jail, in the ‘80s, if a victim didn’t want to press charges, the police did not pursue it.

Greg recalls the call they got – domestic violence dispute at a 3rd story apartment in an old house near downtown Boise. The aggressor was drunk and had just beat up the victim who refused to press charges despite having black eyes and visible injuries. Two weeks later, Greg and his fellow officers returned to the same location for another domestic violence dispute with similar injuries. Greg recalls the victim still did not want to press charges, so they left again. A third call brought Greg back to the same location again where this time, the victim was bleeding and holding her side. Greg says, “I went into what I call, ‘Condition Black’. I wasn’t thinking. I went storming up the staircase to put an end to this and finally arrest this guy. As I rounded the turn in the staircase, the guy had a double-barrel shotgun pointed right in my face. All of a sudden I thought, ‘OK, now what do I do?”

Greg’s partner couldn’t get a shot because the stairs were so narrow that Greg was blocking him. He was stuck. Ultimately, Greg talked his way out of the situation and got the man to put his shotgun down. After they left, his partner asked him what he was thinking, and asked, “Didn’t you hear that he had a gun?”

Greg says that incident set the stage for his desire to train SWAT operations in the future. He reflects, “I had messed up the contact so badly. Because of that call and my failure to remember my training, it really set my track for my law enforcement career.”

After that incident, Greg began teaching combat hand gunning for new officers. As a SWAT teacher, Greg was tasked with finding a program that combined hands-on techniques for shooting, verbal skills for de-escalation, and use of impact weapons. He became a use of force instructor where he trained young officers, and he also became the scout backup where he would go with the scout to do all of the planning and recon for operations.  He acknowledges that training is expensive, but training is critical to ensuring the appropriate use of force, something that is a key issue for law enforcement today. “The more you know the person and their psyche, the more you can treat them justly,” he explains.

As the level of his work intensified, Greg’s opportunities to be mentored expanded, including training with LA County SWAT legend Sgt. Gary Rovarino (LASD). Rovarino gave Greg a book about Old West gunfighters. From it, he learned not just that using deadly force requires will, but also that service in law enforcement involves the will to survive and to protect the people you’ve sworn to protect – the citizens.

Today, Greg is a Product Rep for ESS. He is a self-described, “gear guy,” however his introduction to ESS took a lot of convincing. He wasn’t into product solicitations and wasn’t looking to try something new. After many phone calls and avoidance at setting up a meeting, he finally agreed to meet up with the legendary and persistent ESS product representative, Vince Baertschi, at his hotel parking lot for five minutes. As Greg puts it, “Just to avoid another round of calls over the next six months.” The conversation went like this:

Vince Baertschi, ESS Product Rep.: Here’s the ESS protective eyewear product line.

Greg: Why should my guys switch from another brand when we’re happy with our product?

Vince: ESS provides better ballistic protection at a value proposition for an officer. They’re all good quality, but our ballistic protection at the price point is why we’re different.

Greg: OK, I’ll try them.

Vince gave Greg a pair of Flybys and a pair of ICE glasses. Greg gave his partner the ICE and he took the Flybys. Shortly after, Greg and his partner were at the range shooting steel. Although the threshold for shooting steel safely is 15 yards, they were shooting from only 7 yards because SWAT required intensified exercises. Greg hit the steel target, and the jacket from the round came right back over the cornea of his eye.

He says, “I’d done that in the past and they’d taken chunks out of the lenses. The Flyby just took a little scratch. I thought, ‘Dang, these are really good.’”

After that range experience, Greg fell in love with the product line for its ballistic properties and lens thickness. Everything about the product was superior to what they were using at the time. “If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it,” he says. Elaborating on that, he explains how working patrol or graveyards in the dark made him a true believer in eye protection for law enforcement. ESS’s versatility met his needs and those of his department.

Being a gearhead made Greg open-minded to try ESS, but he continued to see why it was valuable. Where competitor goggles and lenses fogged, ESS stayed clear. When an officer was involved in flash or light sound device detonations, competitor product would allow in debris and dust clouds through the foam. ESS’s foam was tightly sealed, keeping the wearer’s eyes clean and clear.

“There are so many things we couldn’t do without eye protection,” he explains. “In our force-on-force simulations, we’d load .38 brass with a primer and shoot cotton balls from a range of 10 to 20 feet.” In other SWAT training exercises, they’d use paintball, Simunition, and Tasers, all of which required wearing eye protection. “If it wasn’t for my ESS eye protection, I don’t know what kind of damage I’d have in my eyes,” he says matter-of-factly.

Today, Greg wears the Credence with a mirrored copper lens. It takes him from shade to sun without it being too bright or too dark and maximizes visibility. Unlike yellow lenses that will give the wearer a headache, ESS’s mirrored copper draws out the light in a darker environment and still blocks the sun.

Greg’s career in law enforcement stemmed from his innate sense of justice. He attributes this to how his parents raised him to value other people and their ability to make decisions for themselves. Greg’s father was a WWII veteran and a patriot. He recalls when he was younger seeing the aftermath of a domestic violence incident on the victim who was a family friend. “It really put a drive in me,” he explains. “Also, when I was on bike patrol, littering was like a felony to me. It felt wrong to see my city being trashed. It all came together for me and I wanted to keep my community clean and crime-free.”

As Greg’s active SWAT career came to a close, he reciprocated the mentorship he received and focused on training his replacements. He wanted to leave the team in a better position, and he did. He says, “I’ve watched the young officers I’ve mentored over the years do great work. I’m more proud of those people than anything I’ve ever done. Getting them to a place where they’re doing a phenomenal job for the citizens of their community – that’s what it’s about.”

“I was very fortunate with my career,” reflects Greg. “To start as a reserve officer and be promoted to a Sargent veteran officer after 22 years and build the training program. I’m grateful for the people who mentored me. I feel blessed by my 35 years on the force.”