Last Updated on October 1, 2015 by Alex Brown-Hinds
Riverside Sheriff Stan Sniff invited me to be his guest at the 36th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Ceremony last week, an event designed to pay tribute to the women and men of the Western Riverside law enforcement community. I was happy I attended.
Individuals were honored for investigative excellence, excellence in community service, valor, and lifetime achievement. Of all the stories we listened to that night, I found Deputy Richard Dixon’s of the Moreno Valley Police Department the most interesting.
Deputy Dixon works in a community that has historically distrusted law enforcement. After working as a school resource officer, he was assigned to the gang unit. He quickly realized that the students who came to school with tattered clothing had self-esteem issues that increased their susceptibility for recruitment by gangs. In an effort to help those students Deputy Dixon would either help the children get clothes from lost and found or he would buy them clothes with his own money.
After visiting several homes while doing his gang enforcement duties and finding bare cupboards and empty refrigerators, Deputy Dixon has been on a mission to not only enforce the law, but to help those in need by providing food for the hungry. He has assisted over 12 families in less than a year and continues to go above and beyond his duties by providing not only safety, but raising the quality of life and self-esteem of children in the area. His sole purpose has been to help others and in doing so his actions continue to build trust between law enforcement and the community. Deputy Dixon is definitely setting a high standard for excellence in community service.
– See more at: http://theievoice.com/thanking-our-cops/#sthash.zRtt129N.dpuf
