In the end, what brought Phil Gonshak to Seal Beach was much the same as many in the seaside town.
“I like the sense of community and the small town atmosphere,” he said this week. “It is a great place to raise our three girls and my wife, Stephanie, grew up here.”
Gonshak has done his part to help keep Seal Beach a safe and wholesome environment as a member of the Seal Bach Police Department for nearly the past seven years. His hard work and dedication to his law enforcement career is being recognized on Monday when he is officially promoted from the rank of corporal to sergeant in a public ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. in the headquarters at 911 Seal Beach Boulevard.
“I’m very happy about the promotion and the opportunities it will give me at that level to use the skills and other things I’ve learned and to be able to pass them on to others coming up through the ranks,” he said.
Gonshak joined the Seal Beach Department after working for about six and a half years in law enforcement in Tempe, Ariz. He grew up in nearby Phoenix. In his career he has worked as an undercover narcotics officer and as a member of SWAT teams. Itwas in the latter capacity that he encountered what was perhaps the most dangerous situation on the job.
Gonshak’s SWAT team was called out to an incident in which a perpetrator had barricaed himself in a building for seven hours. When he failed to surrender, the SWAT team approached and the man opened fire. Gonshak returned fire and the perpetrator was killed in the exchange.
In Seal Beach, Gonshak has been in charge of the city’s jail facilities as the supervisor of the department’s detention center on Seal Beach Boulevard.
In 2010, Gonshak arrested 31 drunk drivers—more DUI arrests than any other Seal Beach officer made. The Orange County Mothers Against Drunk Drivers honored Gonshak with a “deuce award” in February of 2011. The award’s name was derived from the old-time police radio code 502 for drunk drivers.
Gonshak dedicated the award to a friend of his family, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver about six months earlier.
While focusing on the police work at hand, Gonshak has also made time to further his education in ways that could enhance his new sergeant rank and its leadership opportunities. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach and recently earned a Master’s in Public Administration from there as well.
For Gonshak, however, many of the best on the job rewards he said are the community policing activities he’s been involved in through the Seal Beach Police Department.
“Seal Beach has been a role model in community policing,” he said. “It’s a smaller department compared to others but that helps us stay closer and have better communication with the community.”
Seal Beach Police Chief Joe Stilinovich said he is happy about Gonshak’s promotion.
“I would like to thank Corporal Phil Gonshak and his family for the time they give to the department and the community, especially for their many sacrifices, most of which are never acknowledged publicly,” Stilinovich said. “Phil is moving into the most important role in the department, that of a first-line supervisor. Strong first-line supervision is critical in policing, especially in extremely volatile circumstances. Phil has the training, experience, education, and moral courage to be successful in the position of Sergeant.”
The chief also noted Gonshak’s community involvement by saying lightheartedly: “If Phil thinks this promotion gets him out of coordinating the police plan for “Run Seal Beach,” he’s wrong.
Phil and Stephanie Gonshak moved from Long Beach to Old Town Seal Beach after Stephanie’s mother passed away. They live in the house where Stephanie grew up with their three daughters, Kayla,15, Madeleine, 9 and Maile, 7
“We are all very proud of Phil,” she said.
