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The Pleasanton Police Department this week announced its 2014 “Officer of the Year” and “Professional Staff Member of the Year” recipients, a part of the department’s longstanding annual recognition program for superior performance.
School resource officer Ryan Dawson received “Officer of the Year,” and support services manager Margaret Mary Goulart was named “Professional Staff Member of the Year.”
Employees throughout the police department were able to nominate their peers and co-workers for outstanding contributions throughout the year. All the nominations were reviewed by a committee, with the final selection made by police chief Dave Spiller.
As a school resource officer (SRO), Dawson is responsible for servicing three high schools and three middle schools. He was the sole SRO for a majority of the year.
According to Lt. Jeff Bretzing, Dawson’s typical day is non-stop, from beginning to end, with calls for service and other school-related requests.
“His cell phone is constantly ringing with questions that typically sound something like, ‘Ryan, can I run something by you’,” Bretzing added. “These questions quite often lead to allegations of abuse or other criminal cases, which Ryan would fully investigate.”
Bretzing said, “Despite his workload and call volume, Ryan never says ‘no’ and goes the extra mile to serve.”
Goulart has served the Pleasanton community for almost 26 years, as both a dispatcher and 18 years as the support services manager.
She is responsible for the overall management and direction of the department’s Support Services Unit, which includes four public safety dispatch supervisors, numerous dispatchers and records clerks.
“Given the complexity of this unit and the number of staff members, she continues to perform at the highest level and provides outstanding service to the department and the community,” Bretzing said.
He added that customer service is critical to Goulart, as seen by the consistently high standards she sets for responsiveness to the community.
It is good to see Foothill HS getting it right with their resource officer. The one at Amador, Officer Hobizol, is a bully and not a mentor. He treats kids as terrorists and has no compassion. We need mentors that can work with kids, not officers that enjoy beating down kids that don’t fit into the perfect Pleasanton box. It is almost impossible to sue a police department, but a class action suit might be appropriate to make a change at Amador. If you kid has been abused by Officer Hobizol make it known in a public forum. The deck is stacked against you if you select to pursue a legal strategy.