Calexico police officers honored with awards
CALEXICO — During their combined 22 years with the Calexico Police Department, Officer Brian Porras and Detective Albert Llanas have gotten plenty of opportunities to work alongside each other.
During that time, both would come to admire each other’s work ethic and commitment to the community. That mutual admiration also appears to have been strengthened recently as a result of both having been recognized for their dedication to the public’s safety.
Twelve-year department veteran Llanas was recently awarded the Elsa Hechanova Memorial Award, while Porras, who has nearly 10 years with the department, was presented with the Calexico Police Officer of the Year Award.
“He’s a great asset to have in the Police Department,” Porras said of Llanas. “He goes that extra mile to care for the victim.”
“He’s a hard worker and that’s why he was named officer of the year,” Llanas said of Porras. “He deserves it.”
Llanas is the second member of the community to have received the Elsa Hechanova Memorial Award, which is given out yearly by the county District Attorney’s Office as a way of honoring individuals for their service to crime victims in the Valley. He was formally honored at the county Board of Supervisors meeting on April 12.
Porras, at the recommendation of interim police Chief Reggie Gomez, was awarded the Calexico Police Department’s Officer of the Year Award by the Elks Lodge #1325 in El Centro during the service organization’s annual Public Safety Officers Appreciation Night on March 24.
The recognitions came as a humbling surprise to both, and at a time when the department and its practices have been under intense scrutiny by the public and local and federal authorities.
Llanas and Porras had joined the department within a year of one another, and soon found themselves working on the same team of patrol officers. Llanas would eventually be rotated into investigations, where Porras would soon join him a year later. This pattern would repeat itself again when Llanas was assigned back to patrol, and where Porras would soon join his team again about a year later.
“That was funny because the guys here said we were like a couple,” Llanas said.
Becoming a law enforcement officer had always been a childhood dream of Porras, and specifically a career with the Calexico Police Department, which also happened to be the only department he had applied to after graduating from the police academy.
“I wanted to give back to the community where I grew up,” he said.
Llanas, an El Centro native, said he remembers a heavy police presence on the street of his childhood home, as well as the professional manner with which they interacted with the community.
Although he had initially thought of pursuing a career as an auto mechanic, a stint as a security guard in El Centro had stoked an interest in becoming a law enforcement officer.
“I did it, and I’m grateful I chose that route,” Llanas said.
Interim Chief Reggie Gomez said both Porras and Llanas represent everything he could hope for in police officers. Porras takes a very proactive approach to law enforcement and is something of a role model. Likewise, Llanas displays top-notch investigative skills, Gomez said.
“People in the Police Department and people in the community like them,” Gomez said. “They’re both very well-respected among their peers.”