Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Chief Investigator Gary Auer presented Hanson with a plaque noting his strong crime-fighting skills - Auer noted that Hanson was a highly skilled crime scene investigator - and tenacious nature when it came to catching law-breakers. One such case, a woman who was murdered by her spurned lover, took a decade to prosecute. Hanson had carefully lifted fingerprints from a bottled beer and a glass, airtight evidence against the suspect, who had disappeared.“All the training I’d received in crime scene investigation came into play with that case,” said Hanson in an earlier interview. “Everything was done by the letter. When we got him, all we had to do was locate and dust off the witnesses” for the trial that ended with the man sentenced to life in prison.Hanson also received recognition from the offices of Senator Diane Feinstein and Rep. Elton Gallegly, among others.Hanson’s famous sense of humor at times failed him when it came to all the accolades offered at his retirement dinner, which he had requested be “severely casual.”“This city has been a part of our family for years and years and we don’t plan on going away,” he noted, and the SPPD is “strong, in good hands under Chief MacKinnon, it’s been great serving under him. We’re moving forward.”Hanson provided “outstanding service,” City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz, who was traveling and unable to attend the dinner, said at a recent Council meeting, where Hanson received a City Tile. Bobkiewicz noted that Hanson did a top job as the Acting Chief: “I was so pleased Mark could take on that responsibility... he did a tremendous job for the residents of Santa Paula.”
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Mark Hanson and wife Eleanor get a laugh during presentations that were made to him honoring his service to the Santa Paula Police Department. A BBQ was held last Saturday evening for co-workers, friends and family. Photo by Craig Mailloux |
Mark Hanson retires from SPPD
October 06, 2006
Asst. Chief Hanson: 33-year SPPD veteran lauded at retirement dinner
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesMany facets of the life of Assistant Chief Mark Hanson - family, co-workers, law enforcement officials, aviators and just plain friends - joined together to celebrate his retirement, after a 33-year career as a crime fighter, at a barbecue at Limoneira Park. The September 30 retirement dinner drew hundreds of people who lauded - and joshed - Hanson in words and pictures.A city native, Hanson’s retirement celebration touched on his strong love of family, crime fighting, jet-skiing and aviation, as well as his signature pickup truck that looks like it came off the showroom floor, although he purchased the vehicle while a Santa Paula High School student.Although Hanson demonstrated his usual modesty, there was no denying that he was touched by the words accompanying the slew of awards and proclamations he received, especially those from his peers in the law enforcement community.Each Santa Paula Police Department Unit had their own gift and words of thanks for Hanson for a job more than well done over the more than three decades he was with the department, where he rose up through the ranks to become Acting Chief during his stint as Assistant Chief. Former Chiefs Walt Adair and Bob Gonzales, the moderator for the event, noted Hanson’s long and dedicated service to the community and described as well some incidents that brought chuckles.A professional level film, produced by SPPD Officer Ryan Smith, was screened that highlighted Hanson’s life, his love of family - wife Eleanore and sons Mike and Brian - and aviation, and detailed as well his SPPD career. The tribute was punctuated with audience laughs at regular interludes showing SPPD Chief MacKinnon’s attempts to clean out Hanson’s famous - and eclectic - office, and some of the items he came across.Mayor Rick Cook, a retired SPPD sergeant, said that over the many years that he served with Asst. Chief Hanson in the SPPD, “We worked together as a team... I was even with him when he met his wife, Eleanore.... Santa Paula is losing a great police officer, but not a great citizen,” noted Cook, who with Councilmembers Dr. Gabino Aguirre, Mary Ann Krause and John Procter presented a Proclamation to Hanson. “Mark helped make the SPPD what it is today” by not only his efforts over the years he has spent on the force, but also by running the SPPD as Acting Chief.“Mark, our gift to you is a sword, because you were our strength” and protector, said Sgt. Jimmy Fogata. “No matter what, if we needed equipment you got it for us, if we needed training you got it for us,” even when officers believed that such needs could not be fulfilled.“I echo all the praise” given to Asst. Chief Hanson, said Chief MacKinnon. “The department is what it is today because of what Mark has done for us.”
