Police department recognizes officer and employee of the year Police department recognizes officer and employee of the year (January 13, 2006)

Saulsbury and Janusek honored for loyal service
by Rebecca Guyon

In his last year before retirement, Sergeant Don Saulsbury was named the Pleasanton Police Department's 2005 Officer of the Year at a ceremony held at the end of December. Office manager to the Chief of Police Paula Janusek was also honored at the ceremony as Non-sworn Employee of the Year.

"They are tremendously loyal and dedicated employees," said Police Chief Tim Neal. "Both are busy as can be, but if you have their attention, for that moment you are 'most important person' to them. It's that spirit of helpfulness that they both exemplify in very different ways: Paula internally to me and the entire organization and Saulsbury more from a community standpoint."

Each year, the officers and staff nominate candidates to be chosen for the honor and the Chief of Police selects the final two winners.

Saulsbury joined the Pleasanton police department in 1975 and has worked in Pleasanton for the entirety of his 31-year career. During his time on the force, he has worked a variety of assignments including traffic, SWAT, field training, detective, traffic motorcycle supervisor and he currently leads the special investigations unit in addition to being the department's shooting range and TASER instructor. In 1988, he reached the rank of sergeant and will retire with that title June 30. He is currently the most senior officer in the department.

"As an officer, I enjoyed being a field training officer," Saulsbury said. "It's rewarding to see new officers develop and become experienced officers. As a sergeant, my last two assignments supervising the motorcycle unit and leading the special investigations unit were the most noteworthy."

Saulsbury led the motorcycle unit for six years and was the first sergeant in the department to ride a motorcycle.

"There were various officers before me, but I was the first motorcycle riding sergeant and that was special," he said. "Now they've had other sergeants on motorcycles, but before me sergeants didn't ride motorcycles."

It was as a student at San Jose City College that Saulsbury first became interested in police work after a friend talked him into taking a law enforcement class.

"I took the class and saw I did fairly well and I had a strong interest in it, so when I graduated with an AA I applied to different police departments and landed here in Pleasanton," he said. Saulsbury went back to school in 1991 and earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration from Cal State Hayward while still working full-time at the department.

"We have kind of a small narcotics/special investigations unit, but it is incredibly effective for its size and that's mostly due to the energy (Saulsbury) has," Neal said. "He is still as active as the day he started. He is clearly a natural leader and the officers find him inspirational, energetic and fun. He's somebody who naturally motivates."

In addition to the officers, there are 40 non-sworn employees who keep the police operations running smoothly and Janusek leads the effort as the chief's office manager. Hailing from Chicago, Janusek later moved to California and earned an associate art degree from Las Positas College and a bachelor's of science from Saint Mary's College. She began working in the Human Resources Department for the City of Pleasanton in 1984 and in 1987 she moved to the police department where she has served two police chiefs in her 18 years of employment. In addition to her everyday work, she is also president of the Police Officers' Charitable Foundation and in the past has served as president for the City Employees' Association.

Janusek said her main role in the department is making sure the chief's office runs smoothly by keeping track of his schedule, handling phones calls and providing support for anything else he may need, although Neal said she really juggles all kinds of issues in the department that extend beyond the chief's office.

"She is definitely the 'go to' person in the department," Neal said. "On top of being caring, she's willing to follow through and get an answer if she doesn't have it--which isn't often because she knows what you need 99 percent of the time."

With the Charitable Foundation, Janusek organized this past year's "Giving Tree" which provided gifts to 24 Pleasanton families who otherwise might have had a disappointing Christmas.

"I think I'm most proud of the fact that I've been in different roles," Janusek said. Although she said she enjoys her work, her favorite part of the department is her co-workers.

"I love all of them," she said. "They're great people and I have a lot of respect for them."

Both Saulsbury and Janusek said this award was a great honor, particularly because it comes from their peers.

"The organization is really behind these people and no one was surprised (that they were chosen)," Neal said. "They both were surprised and flattered, and they shouldn't be because they are both stellar."

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