Police Department
2008 Officer of the Year
The 2008 recipient of the Rotary Club's Police Officer of the Year goes to Officer Richard Villegas.
Officer Richard Villegas, a seven-year veteran of the Department, was selected as the Officer of the Year for 2008. His father and an older brother are both police officers working in neighboring cities and no doubt influenced Officer Villegas' interest in law enforcement. Officer Villegas started his career with the Department as a Vernon Service Officer (VSO), a civilian position responsible for handling a variety of tasks including working in the jail. While working in the jail, it became clear to Richard that what he really wanted to do was to be a police officer and work on the streets where he felt he could really make a difference.
| Additional Police Department Resources: | ||
General Information:
|
Divisions & Bureaus: |
Specialized Units: |
Since graduating from the Police Academy in 2004, Officer Villegas has dedicated himself to his profession and to serving the community. In 2007, Richard was runner-up for the Officer of the Year Award. That year, he earned the Department's Life Saving Award for his actions in helping to resuscitate a victim that had been electrocuted. He was also among the top performers in several job related performance areas.
This past year Officer Villegas focused his efforts on increasing his self-initiated activity and as a result, ended the year with more arrests than any other officer in the Patrol Division. Although he developed a knack for catching graffiti taggers "in the act," his arrests involved a wide variety of crimes, from vandalism, theft, and narcotics violations to other crimes such as trademark infringement.
According to Police Chief Steve Towles, "It is gratifying to have someone in your organization who excels on an individual level and yet, puts the welfare of the group or community above their own. This past year Officer Villegas performed his duties in an exceptional manner. This didn't occur by accident and didn't come as a surprise to Richard or his supervisors. At the beginning of the year, he made it clear that he intended to step up his performance in all areas and really make a difference. That's quite a goal for someone who had just earned a life-saving award and was already being considered for the Officer of the Year."
We are pleased to recognize and honor Officer Richard Villegas as the Vernon Police Department's Police Officer of the Year for 2008.
