Police Officer of the Month

October 2002

Chief of Police G. Wayne Livesay selected Cpl. Gabriel Arias as Police Officer of the month for October 2002. During that month some of Cpl Arias’ more significant cases included:

Disorderly/Trespassing: On October 5th, he was dispatched to River Hill High School for a disorderly female at their homecoming football game. The female, who was the mother of a River Hill High School football player, left the stadium and attempted to return in violation of school policy. When told by the principal and security staff that she could not return the intoxicated female became disorderly. Upon Cpl. Arias’ arrival, the female was requested to leave and she refused using profanities and becoming disorderly. He arrested the female and criminally charged her with the violations.

CDS Violation: On October 14th, Cpl. Arias was conducting a self-initiated foot patrol at the Harpers Choice Village Center when he was approached by an anonymous citizen who advised that he had been approached by a woman who had offered to sell the citizen sex or drugs. Cpl. Arias subsequently located the woman and a consent search resulted in the recovery of CDS (heroin) and CDS paraphernalia. The woman was subsequently arrested and charged with the violations.

Theft: On October 14th, Cpl. Arias was dispatched to a residence in Columbia for a theft. Upon meeting the victim he determined that a diamond necklace, valued at $6,200 had been removed from her residence by an unknown suspect. It was further discovered that a construction crew had been working inside the residence during the period that the necklace was taken. Cpl. Arias spoke with the contractor who stated he had no knowledge of the theft. Cpl. Arias began interviewing the members of the construction crew who were all Latino and spoke minimal English. While interviewing the crew members Cpl. Arias utilized a ploy and said that the homeowner had installed a video system to catch a housekeeper who had been stealing from the residence. The ploy was successful and one employee acknowledged that he had stolen the necklace several days prior to the report. The employee further removed the necklace from his shoe and provided it to Cpl. Arias. The suspect was subsequently arrested.

The majority of Cpl. Arias’ investigations during the month were the result of self-initiated work to include numerous liquor violations, weapons violations and CDS violations.

Additionally during the month, Cpl. Arias assisted the Tactical Section with their HCPD SWAT School in a training exercise. Cpl. Arias is frequently called upon during each shift to assist other members of the department in their investigations due to his bilingual skills.

Cpl. Arias is described by his supervisors as a hard working dedicated member of the department and a valued member of Platoon C.

CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE!