The Seal Beach Police Foundation honored 15 local public safety workers and volunteers recently at the Public Safety Awards Luncheon at Old Ranch Country Club.
Detective Jeff Gibson was named Officer of the Year. He has 10 years of traffic investigation experience. He transfered from the Los Alamitos to the Seal Beach Police Department in 2009. Gibson was also one of three officers honored with a Lifesaving Award.
According to Sgt. Michael Henderson, public information officer for the Seal Beach Police Department, on Sept. 22, 2015, Hardin responded to a medical aid call for a woman choking in Leisure World. He found her on the floor, turning blue. He immediately gave her CPR until paramedics arrived.
Other honorees were:
• Crime Analyst Kevin Edwards—Professional Employee of the Year
• Cpl. Brian Gray—Livesaving Award
• Officer Joe Hardin—Lifesaving Award. According to Sgt. Henderson, on Feb. 27, 2015, officers conducted a welfare check on a Seal Beach man who had not been see in two weeks. Officers walking around the house noticed an odor that comonly comes from someone who is deceased or in distress.
Gray and Gibson eentered the house and found the 70-year-old man. Initially, Gray and Gibson thought he was dead.
When they realized he was alive, officers called for paramedics. Gray and Gibson stayed with him until help arrived. It turned out the man had been stranded for a week.
• Jackie Hawkins—CERT Member of the Year
• Don Murrary—VIPS Member of the Year
• Don Kovell—RACES Member of the Year
• Dispatcher Jessica Castillo—Exemplary Service and Teamwork
• Dispatcher Tiffany Yakubovsky—Exemplary Service and Teamwork
• Dispatcher Marie Pope—Expemplary Service and Teamwork
• Firefighter Karl Diekman (Orange County Fire Authority)—Seal Beach Firefighter of the Year
• Senior Community Service Officer Dominic Sarabia—Exemplary Service
• Lifeguard Kyle Heinrich–Jr. Lifeguard Instructor of the Year
• Lifeguard Joseph Pennell—Tower Guard of the Year
• Lifeguard Steven Tennant—Area Supervisor of the Year
