The Pleasanton Police Department has added two new officers and promoted two others to higher ranks.
Maria Munayer has been promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and Benjamin Sarasua was promoted from officer to sergeant. Two new officers, Matt Harvey and Ken White, have also sworn in. All these jobs filled vacancies.
Munayer, an Alamo native, joined PPD in 2001 and has served on patrol, as a detective, on the SWAT team and in the Special Enforcement Unit. She also co-founded the Bridgewatch Angels, a non-profit organization that organizes officers who patrol the Golden Gate Bridge during holidays to prevent suicides. She received her B.S. from University of San Francisco, and her master's in leadership studied from St. Mary's College.
Sarasua, a Pleasanton native and Amador Valley graduate, served in the marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom before joining the department in 2007. He's served on the SWAT/sniper team, force operations, as a detective and as a field training officer, as well as assisted with the department's strategic planning committee and branding campaign. He received his bachelor's in criminal justice from California State University, Hayward, and his master's in emergency management from American Military University.
Harvey and White graduated from the Southbay Regional Police Academy in San Jose on Sept. 1 before being sworn in.
Harvey, a Foothill High alumnus, is a former Pleasanton Police Explorer. White is a former Nordstrom loss-prevention officer.
Comments
Dublin
on Sep 10, 2015 at 1:10 pm
on Sep 10, 2015 at 1:10 pm
Congrats and be safe guys.
Mission Park
on Sep 10, 2015 at 11:02 pm
on Sep 10, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Congrats to those promoted as well as the new hires. Nice to hear the local backgrounds of two of the members! Please be careful out there protecting all of us, your efforts are appreciated.
Vineyard Avenue
on Sep 11, 2015 at 9:47 am
on Sep 11, 2015 at 9:47 am
Yay for PPD! Now maybe they can patrol Vineyard and cite impatient drivers who drive in the bike lane to avoid having to wait a moment for the car ahead of them to turn left. This happens daily at the park just off First. These drivers are not paying any attention to bike riders or kids trying to get to and from the park or young mothers with toddlers and strollers crossing Vineyard. Since there are no marked crosswalks and the 25mph speed limit is ignored, pedestrians and cyclists are vulnerable and endangered. Are these just more Livermorians using Ptown residential streets as highway bypasses?
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Sep 11, 2015 at 10:37 am
on Sep 11, 2015 at 10:37 am
Congrats to the new PTown PD Officers! Please patrol the Stonerridge Freeway (Stoneridge Drive), as it is definitely a Freeway now thanks to all of you wonderful PTown people that voted for it?? My husband & I live off of Stonebridge & have witnessed reckless & crazy Speeders on this Freeway since Stoneridge Drive was extended to El Charro Road! It's only a matter of time until someone is hurt OR killed on this Freeway due to speed and the increase in traffic on this once beautiful non-cut through road! I have seen a FEW Motorcycle Cops giving out speeding tickets here, but we need more?? We are moving out of California before the El Charro Road is extended from HWY 580 to Stanley Drive as our lives are in jeopardy due to this crazy road!!
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Sep 11, 2015 at 12:09 pm
on Sep 11, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Hope the Pleadsnton PD requires all officers to wear the camera so we don't get in the same situation with the killing earlier this year! We are going to lose in court because of the way it was handled! The police report is full of holes!!
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Sep 14, 2015 at 5:19 pm
on Sep 14, 2015 at 5:19 pm
Congrats to the new officers. Next step is pass probation and lateral away.
Avignon
on Sep 14, 2015 at 10:42 pm
on Sep 14, 2015 at 10:42 pm
larry, when is the last time a PPD officer lateral'd out of P-town? that's right. been about 10 years. troll on!!!
another community
on Sep 14, 2015 at 11:58 pm
on Sep 14, 2015 at 11:58 pm
Actually, I have heard about 5-7 officers have made lateral transfers to other agencies over the last 6 years.
Avila
on Sep 15, 2015 at 5:56 pm
on Sep 15, 2015 at 5:56 pm
Actually you heard wrong.
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Sep 15, 2015 at 10:29 pm
on Sep 15, 2015 at 10:29 pm
Lateral away once you pass probation, if you can, and document everything to protect yourself! Remember only you can protect yourself. Stay safe guys.
Las Positas
on Sep 19, 2015 at 2:35 am
on Sep 19, 2015 at 2:35 am
Eric and Lou I think your both wrong. It is the nature of the business for people to get some experience then move on to a bigger or busier department. If you look on the the City of Pleasanton's HR page, the PD is alwasy looking for new and Lateral officers, to feel in the ones that leave or at least have a least ready to pick from.
Bordeaux Estates
on Sep 19, 2015 at 5:07 pm
on Sep 19, 2015 at 5:07 pm
MIke, sorry, but your assumptions just aren't based on facts. Call the city's HR department or the PD's personnel and training division and ask them when the last time was a Pleasanton Police officer lateraled OUT of Pleasanton. Pleasanton has had retirements and officers not make it out of the field training program, but nobody has lateraled out of Pleasanton in quite a few years. You don't believe me? Call and find out for yourself.
Las Positas
on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:37 am
on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:37 am
Lou:
In your first comment you said it has been about ten years since they had an officer lateral out. In your comment to me you said a few years. Which is it? I find it hard to believe that Pleasanton PD is that great that no one has Lateraled out in almost ten years. I understand ret. quiting, or not making probation. In the part of the Bay Area where I was a cop, it was like a revolving door for all departments, cops leaving and cops comming.
California Somerset
on Sep 21, 2015 at 11:06 am
on Sep 21, 2015 at 11:06 am
sigh....
you can lead a horse to water...
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Jun 6, 2016 at 2:41 pm
on Jun 6, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Mike is correct and Lou Stuhle and Eric Chin are incorrect. Trust me, I was one of the Pleasanton officers who ended up going to work for another agency. While it is not extremely common for officers to leave Pleasanton, it does happen. Another officer left for a different agency around the same time I left as well. Not everybody was happy there as I constantly spoke with co-workers when I was making my decision to leave. I had multiple officers encourage me to leave while I could and told me they would leave themselves if it was not for them being a bit later in their careers or other personal reasons which would not make it an ideal time to start over. I loved the job, just did not like the department I was doing it for.
And Lou Stuhle, no need to call Pleasanton human resources. I'll save you the trouble. Officers have left Pleasanton and lateralled to agencies in Alameda County, Contra Costa County and San Francisco County all within the last 4 to 8 years.