(Seguin) — The Seguin Police Department is wrapping up another year by honoring its top officers and employees of 2023. The individuals were recently recognized during the PD’s annual employee recognition luncheon.
Seguin Police Chief Jason Brady says he is proud of this year’s award recipients.
Topping that batch of winners was this year’s Officer of the Year.
Named as Officer of the Year for the Seguin Police Department was Willie Ybarra. Brady says Ybarra has for years proven his dedication to the department.
“I don’t think there is anyone who is plugged into the Seguin community that doesn’t know Officer Ybarra. He is involved in many of our civic organizations. He’s been involved from the very beginning from our community engagement and our fundraising and events like that. He is our longest serving officer so he’s a 29 year veteran of our department. He’s been here longer than any officer or employee in the department. He’s worked in multiple capacities. He’s just always positive. He’s never cynical. He’s never down and I think that really helps the morale of the whole department. You come in and you see Willie and he’s just positive and he’s been doing this job 29 years and he still everyday is like his first.
He’s still anxious to come out and see how he can help the public, how he can help the department, how he can help make the city a better place,” said Brady.
Recognized as Civilian of the Year was Jessica Schaffer. Brady says Schaffer has also illustrated years of service and dedication to the department.
“This is an employee who has been here for some time. So, a great track record of the quality of service she provides. She is calm and efficient. She is able to handle stressful situations while maintaining professionalism and in the communications where she works — she is one of our emergency telecommunicators — we are a smaller agency. We don’t have dedicated call-takers and dedicated dispatchers so she covers both roles. So, she truly provides service to the citizens, the customers if you will — the people calling and then having to provide that level of quality of service to our first responders when she is conducting the dispatching. So, she was recognized for her patience, her professionalism, her calm demeanor, her can do attitude,” said Brady.
Both Rookie of the Year and Supervisor of the Year recipients were also named. Brady says both these individuals were selected largely on their peers who have witnessed their work throughout the year.
He says they are nominated by their peers. They are then voted on by the entire department.
This year’s Rookie of the Year award was presented to Officer William Collier. Brady says as a rookie, Collier brings a wealth of experience to the department.
“I don’t know if you ever saw that show The Rookie where they have an older gentleman join the LA PD. He’s not a kid. Seguin PD, pg. 3
Seguin PD, continued.
By no means an old man but he’s former military so he came in without a lot of training and leadership skills that he shares with the shift and he takes initiative which is unusual when someone is brand new at that level so we are looking at start a drone program. Not only did he show interest but he’s taking complete charge of that. He’s drafting policy. He’s crafting the language and writing for the grants so hopefully, we can take advantage of that. He is bringing a lot of his military experience to that program. He’s very professional. Again, he was chosen by his peers who recognize those traits in him,” said Brady.
Named as Supervisor of the Year was Sgt. Albert Sanchez. Brady says there’s no denying Sanchez’s professionalism.
“He again was selected not just by his peers but by subordinate officers and I think some of the things that were expressed was his fairness. His fairness across the board. A thing that officers always like is leading by example. He wouldn’t instruct an officer to do something that he’s not — number one, willing to do himself but two, able in terms of competencnecy or knowledge base. Just the other day, I went downstairs and he was instructing the taser recertification class and I was watching his presentation. It was very professional. He’s always professional in appearance and demeanor. He motivates his officers. He creates an environment where they can grow in their development and become well-rounded. Keep in mind, he was chosen not just among his own troops but other officers as well,” said Brady.
Rounding out the list of award recipients was this year’s DWI Enforcement Officer of the Year. Earning the award is Officer Yesenia Ballard. Brady says the award is new and was presented to the officer with the most DWI arrests.
“That is new this year because the Seguin Police Department, we place a high value on keeping our streets free of impaired drivers and trying to keep our roadways as safe as possible and I’m proud to say that was very competitive. I think were within one or two arrests for several employees so we have some officers that take that seriously — that look for those cues of impaired drivers and we want to set an example. We want to set the tone and let Seguin know that we are going to do as much as we can to not tolerate that and to try to keep our roadways safe so Officer Ballard was able to take that initiative and get more DWI arrests than any of her peers and again, that would be open to any officer next year that want to follow her fine example,” said Brady.
Also recognized for her work with Seguin’s furry population was Animal Control Officer Robin McDaniel. Brady says McDaniel’s work with Seguin’s animal population landed her the recognition that she truly deserves.
Brady says although only a handful of employees are recognized each year, these individuals stand as an illustration of all the very deserving men and women of the Seguin PD.
“I’m just proud to honor all my officers. These individuals got the recognition but I think they represent the department as a whole in these categories, officers, supervisors, civilian. It hopefully brings attention to the public when they see individuals being recognized. It think it’s easier for people to identify with that. You see that in journalism, you talk about a war or a tragedy and it’s just numbers. It’s hard to deal with but when you focus on one individual story or one family, it’s more impactful. So when you see these officers receiving this recognition, in a sense it’s representative of the entire department for the great work that they are doing throughout the year,” said Brady.
Each were recognized with plaques and other tokens of appreciation before their colleagues and members of the Seguin community.