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Celebrating those on the frontlines of ensuring public safety was the focus of the 43rd Annual Kiwanis Law Day, where Santa Paula Police Officer Randy Haumann was named “2010 Officer of the Year.” Pictured above left to right are: Bill Grant, Santa Paula Kiwanis President; SPPD Chief Steve MacKinnon; Officer Randy Haumann; and Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten. |
Kiwanis Law Day Awards: Haumann honored as SPPD Officer of the Year
June 09, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Celebrating those on the frontlines of ensuring public safety was the focus of the 43rd Annual Kiwanis Law Day, where Santa Paula Police Officer Randy Haumann was named “2010 Officer of the Year.” The May 28 awards dinner was held at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, where law enforcement leaders and officers congratulated honored members from each of Ventura County’s police agencies.
Santa Paula Kiwanis President Bill Grant said Haumann is a “fantastic young man, an outstanding officer that we’re so pleased is a member of the Santa Paula Police Department.”
Marty and Diane Haumann, the officer’s parents, traveled from Fernley, Nevada for the awards dinner. “Are we proud of him? Oh, yes, definitely,” said Marty Haumann, who noted his son had left his K-9 partner Hozy home.
Master of Ceremonies was Louis Cunningham, the president-elect of the Kiwanis Club of Ventura, which sponsors the event.
Ventura Kiwanis Past President Richard Hanawalt spoke of the turbulent 1960s, when amid the social unrest and drug use of the decade the club decided to start an annual celebration of law enforcement and the military. “We decided we were just unhappy” at the treatment and perception of same, he noted.
Santa Paula Police Chief Steve MacKinnon presented the “Officer of the Year” award to Haumann, noting “The 60’s were challenging sometimes, but what law enforcement is doing now” is even more difficult. Due to severe statewide budget cuts “the SPPD has 15 percent less officers. We’re sucking it up, and with the District Attorney’s Office” dealing with their own dwindling budget, law enforcement “is still keeping it safe.”
MacKinnon said, “Drugs nowadays are more addictive” and cause a stronger violent reaction in users. “Gangs are out there now that are really scary... and it’s incredible what law enforcement is doing” to keep the peace and deal with crime with so much less.
It is officers like Haumann that MacKinnon said contribute to incredible but fiscally challenged law enforcement. “In my 30 years on the job,” MacKinnon said, he has rarely seen an office with Haumann’s dedication and drive.
A member of the SPPD for “only three years,” Haumann was recognized by his peers as the 2009 Santa Paula Police Officers Association Officer of the Year. “Fully one-third of all DUI arrests” have been conducted by Haumann, who recently was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers on local and state levels.
“He’s at the top of the department” for arrests and contacts, and MacKinnon said Haumann’s “consistency in action and effectiveness” has earned high respect from his officer peers. In addition, Haumann is “great with the community,” his easy-going manner and friendliness appreciated by the public. Haumann, said MacKinnon, “is an amazing all-around officer and an incredible contributor to the agency,” including his duty as a K-9 handler and a member of the Special Response Team, among other contributions to the SPPD.
Twelve other officers and a DA investigator were also honored: CHP Officer Steven L. Gonzalez, honored by CAL-NEV-HA Kiwanis Division 42; CHP Officer Dustin Wood, Kiwanis Club of Ventura; CHP Officer Dodd Stolworthy, Kiwanis Club of Ventura; Camarillo Police Department/Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Nora Soler, Kiwanis Club of Camarillo; Moorpark Police/VCSD Deputy Nolan Stoyko, Kiwanis Club of Moorpark; Ojai Police/VCSD Deputy Gunnar Dike, Ojai Kiwanis; Senior Officer Ricardo Vazquez of the Oxnard Police Department, Kiwanis Club of Oxnard; Port Hueneme Police Sergeant Eric Starna, Kiwanis Club of Ventura; Thousand Oaks Police/VCSD Deputy Richard La Secla in Thousand Oaks, Thousand Oaks Kiwanis; Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Trina Newman, Kiwanis Club of Ventura and Ventura Police Corporal Alfonso “Al” Gomez, Ventura Kiwanis.
Also honored was Fillmore Police Department/VCSD Deputy Brian Hackworth, a native of Santa Paula, who received his award from Fillmore Police/VCSD Captain Tim Hagel and the Ventura Kiwanis Club. Hackworth was honored in 2001 with a Medal of Valor for his efforts to rescue a woman from a burning car.
The Kiwanis Club of East Ventura and District Attorney Greg Totten presented an “Officer of the Year Award” to DA Investigator Robert Coughlin, who joined the office in 2007 after a 29-year career with Oxnard Police and specializes in homicide cases.
