Officer Rivera Awarded Petaluma Police Officer Of The Year

Petaluma CA

12 February, 2021

7:00 PM

Description

Press release from The Petaluma Police Department: Feb. 12, 2021 The Petaluma Police Department is proud to announce that Officer Zilverio "Zeus" Rivera has been selected as our 2020 Police Officer of the Year. Officer Rivera's performance over the last year, as it has been consistently throughout his entire career, is worthy of his selection for this prestigious award. Officer Rivera has always dedicated himself to serve others and began his career with our department as a peace officer in 2007. Since then, he has proudly served our organization in a variety of assignments including Field Training Officer, DARE Instructor, Homeless Outreach Services Team Officer, Crime and Collision Scene Investigator, Hostage Negotiator, Dual Purpose Motorcycle Officer, and Gang Enforcement Officer. Officer Rivera has demonstrated the highest level of community engagement by working diligently with all community members from Petaluma, especially the underserved and most at-risk. He was one of two officers who stepped forward to work directly with the unsheltered and demonstrated care and compassion while offering local social services first, and then enforcement second. He developed relationships with not only the unsheltered population in our area, but important community-based organizations that could help him and his partner in HOST provide wrap-around resources needed for long-term success for those in which we interacted. Officer Rivera has exceeded the normal scope of his law enforcement duties in prioritizing the health and safety of our community's youth. As a mentor with Mentor Me Petaluma, Officer Rivera was able to identify and implement the current Petaluma Police Department's Restorative Justice Program, which gives our officers the opportunity to divert at risk youth away from incarceration and juvenile detention and place them on a track of rehabilitation and productive reintegration. As a result of his facilitation, this diversion program is now offered throughout the Petaluma City Schools system.Valuing diversity, Officer Rivera takes every opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with our Latinx communities and the educational organizations that support bilingual populations. He is a regular presenter at Spanish speaking classes, community events and on safety panel discussions. As public trust was eroded by the actions of a few during 2020, Officer Rivera saw the challenges as opportunities to demonstrate to the public who we are and how we serve them. Officer Rivera also helped be the face of the Department by participating in countless diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) efforts. Officer Rivera spearheaded police community relations helping the Department highlight diversity goals and the positive work of his peers through his involvement in the creation of public education campaign called, "How We Serve." When there were calls for additional training for officers in the field related to racial profiling and implicit bias, Officer Rivera volunteered to take on this task. Officer Rivera coordinated and led department-wide training on these sensitive topics and offered personal insight from his own lived experiences and interactions with community members. Most importantly, Officer Rivera understood the significance of being a Field Training Officer, who is responsible for teaching new officers best practices in policing that not only protect the community, but also keep themselves safe. When asked to assume this prominent position, he accepted with unwavering dedication. As he has delivered policing services to this community, he has inspired and mentored new officers to deliver the same level of service through his leadership and positive influence. His efforts in this area have created the next generation of peace officers to carry on a tradition and reputation for excellence in our profession. Officer Rivera's performance has exemplified our performance principles of professionalism, teamwork, organizational excellence, leadership, community, and a winning attitude. While selflessly serving this community, he has demonstrated the true essence of what it means to have a community guardian mindset outlined in the Task Force Report on 21st Century Policing. Please join us in thanking Officer Rivera for his service to the City, our Department, and the community and congratulating him on this well-deserved recognition as our 2020 Petaluma Police Officer of the Year. This press release was produced by The Petaluma Police Department. The views expressed here are the author's own.