Yuba-Sutter's finest selected

The Exchange Club of Marysville will host its 33rd annual Yuba-Sutter Peace Officer of the Year banquet March 6 at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds in Yuba City.

Nine law enforcement officers from Yuba and Sutter counties, including police and sheriff departments, probation departments and Beale Air Force Base, will be honored.

"This annual banquet allows our citizens and elected officials to say 'thank you' for the hard work and accomplishments of the recipients," said Yuba City police Officer Dennis Hauck, one of the organizers.

The event is open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour, followed by dinner and award presentations at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, call Hauck at 822-4795. Tickets are also available at any of the nine agencies.

The officers are, in alphabetical order:

Officer Bill Beck, Yuba-Sutter California Highway Patrol: Beck, 37, was a park ranger and substitute teacher before joining the CHP in 1996. Before coming to the Yuba City CHP office in 2007, he worked in San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Stockton and South Sacramento. From 2004 to 2006, he was a criminal law instructor at the CHP Academy.

Working mainly on the night shift, Beck has consistently been recognized for DUI enforcement and stolen vehicle recoveries, earning six "10851" (a Vehicle Code chapter on vehicle theft) awards. He has also trained as a radar and Lidar operator and drug recognition expert.

Beck is a graduate of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a basketball scholarship. He and his wife, Jodie, also a Yuba-Sutter CHP officer, have three sports-loving children.

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Cpl. Jason Garringer, Marysville Police Department: Garringer, 29, a former music student, became interested in law enforcement in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Chief Wallace Fullerton.

Garringer played football and learned to play guitar at East Nicolaus High School. He went on to study music with noted musician Tommy Armstrong and attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. After high school graduation in 1999, he attended Yuba College and sold TVs and stereos at Montgomery Wards in Marysville.

Garringer was hired as a reserve officer in 2004 and became full-time the following year. In 2007 he was appointed field training officer. He was awarded a life-saving award last year for his part in saving a woman who was trying to jump from a bridge.

He lives in Yuba City with his fiancee and their two children.

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Officer Byron Kendrick Green, Yuba Community College District Police Department: After serving in the U.S. Army Military Police, Green joined the Rocklin Police Department in 1990. Since joining the college force in 2007, Green "has become an outstanding role model for his peers and made tremendous inroads into campus policing and education efforts of the department," said Chief Christopher Wilkinson.

Green has taken on more than his assigned duties, developing a DUI report form and field information packet issued to all department officers, Wilkinson said.

"We are proud that he is part of the Yuba Community College Police Department family," the chief said.

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Traffic Officer Robb Koopman, Yuba City Police Department: Koopman, a Northern California native, is one of only handful of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration child safety instructors in this part of the state.

After high school graduation, Koopman joined the U.S. Army and served with the 82nd Airborne Division, rising to sergeant before his honorable discharge in 1987. He then attended the Butte College Police Academy, graduating in the top 5 percent of his class.

The Yuba City Police Department hired Koopman as a patrol officer in 1989. Five years later, he joined the traffic enforcement and education unit and was assigned to the newly formed motor unit, where he is an instructor.

"Traffic enforcement became Robb's forte as did his ability to investigate traffic collisions," according to a department press release.

Koopman is also a field training officer, collision reconstructionist, range master and armorer.

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Staff Sgt. Connor Macleod, Beale Air Force Base: Born on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, Macleod joined the Air Force in 1996 and was recently deployed to Afghanistan where, as a supervisor of Bagram Airfield's entry control point, he was "the first line of defense for over $20 billion worth of resources and 18,000 personnel," according to a press release.

As a desk sergeant with the 9th Security Forces Squadron at Beale, he directs 49 men and women and oversees the base alarm system. Macleod is responsible for documenting law enforcement incidents on base and briefing commanders at all levels.

Besides desk sergeant, his positions have included noncommissioned officer in charge of an Elite Gate Guard unit, patrolman, customs inspector, fire team leader and squad leader.

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Deputy James Middleton, Sutter County Sheriff's Department: Middleton, a resident deputy in south Sutter County, "has shown a knack for being in the right place at the right time and never losing a foot chase," according to a department press release.

In March 2009, Middleton saw Asian gang members running from a traffic accident at the Sutter Cemetery. He chased one suspect, pulled him off a fence and gained control of a handgun that that had been in the suspect's waistband.

In another incident, Middleton was staking out an assault suspect's house when the suspect appeared. Despite being bitten by the man's dog, he gave chase over several fences and made the arrest.

While patrolling Franklin Road, Middleton heard shots, got behind the suspects' vehicle and saw them throw guns out the windows. The suspects were gang members and had just come from a drive-by shooting.

In October, Middleton was writing reports at Lincoln Elementary School when he head an explosion and saw an overturned vehicle on fire. A minute after Middleton freed the driver, the gas tank exploded, destroying the vehicle.

Middleton has one of the department's best records for making DUI arrests.

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Deputy Joe Pomeroy, Yuba County Sheriff's Department: Before joining the department in 1997, Pomeroy earned a psychology degree from Chico State University and worked as a lifeguard, an emergency room technician at Rideout Memorial Hospital and as a self-employed disc jockey. His medical experience has been valuable to the department, where he is a CPR trainer.

He joined the department as a correctional officer, then attended the Yuba College Police Academy. His regular assignment is patrol officer, although he also serves as a field training officer, officer in charge of shifts and detective. In 2000 he was commended for his investigative work in a triple homicide in east Linda.

"Deputy Pomeroy is often described as dedicated, reliable and a team player and is always willing to help where he is needed. He has a friendly demeanor with a good attitude, along with a keen sense of humor," according to a press release.

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Senior Deputy Probation Officer Thomas Lloyd Samson, Yuba County Probation Department: Samson, a 1974 Sutter Union High School graduate and California Baptist College student, began his career as a counselor at Bi-County Juvenile Hall. At the Probation Department he has supervised adults and juveniles.

Starting in 1989, he spent seven years as school resource officer at Thomas E. Mathews Community School. He now has the same role at Marysville High School.

"Tom's peers cite his willingness to assist fellow officers, his work with the youths of the community" and his dedication to schools as reasons for naming him officer of the year, according to a department press release.

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Deputy Probation Officer III Wally Sangston, Sutter County Probation Department: A seven-year member of the department, Sangston has been truancy officer for the Yuba City Unified School District and a juvenile placement officer.

Sangston takes a personal interest in the juveniles he supervises, helping them complete their education, find employment and "focus on the strength of the family unit," according to a department press release. "Wally is the 'go to guy' when a helping hand is needed, and he has never faulted in his willingness to help others."

Sangston graduated from Lindhurst High School in 1979, served in the Air Force from 1980 to 1982 and attended Yuba College in 1997 and 1998. His wife, Carla Sangston, is also a deputy probation officer. They have three daughters and a grandson, Tobee.

Know and Go

• WHAT: Exchange Club of Marysville's Yuba-Sutter Peace Officer of the Year banquet.

• WHERE: Main Exhibit Hall, Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, 442 Franklin Ave., Yuba City

• WHEN: March 6; social hour at 5:30 p.m.; dinner and award presentations at 6:30 p.m.

• INFORMATION: Call Yuba City police Officer Dennis Hauck, 822-4795. Tickets are available at any of the nine agencies.