Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

Richard Small kisses his daughter, Macey, 6 months, on the head after his wife, Lacy, right, pinned on his Galt Police badge during a swearing-in at the Galt Police Department on Wednesday morning. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

By Layla Bohm
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Thursday, November 19, 2009 6:38 AM PST

Comments (2 comment(s))

Despite economic woes, taxpayers in Galt wanted more police officers so much that last year that they voted for a half-cent sales tax hike.

Now they are getting what they voted for — the police force was increased by three officers who were publicly sworn-in Wednesday, along with two more officers who filled vacancies.

That brings the total number of sworn officers to 34, and one more position will soon be filled, said Galt Police Chief Loren Cattolico. Through the tax increase, called Measure R, the department also just hired another dispatcher and hopes to have a school resource officer by next July, he said.

"We're watching the sales tax numbers carefully," he said. "We certainly want to be conservative so we don't have to lay anyone off."

Several of the new officers were previously in that predicament, part of a mass layoff by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, which included a Galt native who even got a life-saving award before he was laid off. Cattolico noted that their experience will benefit Galt.

The new officers recognized Wednesday were:

Chris Barney, 27, who graduated from a small private high school in Sacramento, then received a Bachelor's degree in government and political science from California State University, Sacramento.

He then worked at his father's construction company for a couple years, but decided to pursue his interest in a law enforcement career. Some extended family members work for the Sheriff's Department, so Barney applied there and got a job. He's been working in Galt since Sept. 1 and said he likes the town.

"The police force is very motivated and professional — people mean what they say," Barney said. "It's a department that means business."

Allie Beeson, a Texas native who spent one season as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, a demanding job where she had to pay $10 parking and was only paid $25 per game.

Beeson double-majored in management and accounting at the University of Texas, where she received a Bachelor's degree. She then began working in the accounting field and took a job in Los Angeles.

Her firm transferred her to a San Francisco office, but after 9/11 the market got tougher and Beeson said she began to look elsewhere.

"I got bored. I can't sit in a desk job day in and day out," she said.

She'd always been interested in investigations, so she went on some ride-alongs to get a feel for the real jobs. She got a degree in criminal justice and went to work for the Sheriff's Department for two years before coming to Galt.

Nathan Meyerdick, a Galt native who graduated from Galt High School in 2004.

He volunteered as a police cadet from 2002 to 2008 — and married a fellow cadet — and said he'd always wanted to go into the law enforcement field. After high school he went to Cosumnes River College and then got a job as a Sheriff's deputy.

In March, he was sent to a call in which a 14-year-old boy had hung himself. He was still alive when deputies got to the scene.

"We got his heartbeat back and medics got him to the hospital," Meyerdick said.

It was the first time he'd used his CPR training, and he received a life-saving award. The teen died at the hospital three days later, but 23-year-old Meyerdick said that didn't change his career plans.

Rick Small, who graduated from Weed High School in 1997, then went to University of California, Davis. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology and went to work for a non-profit that helps foster children.

Then he began to consider other careers.

"My background is in social services, so I definitely want to help people, but in a different capacity. I didn't want to sit behind the desk," he said.

So Small, who just turned 32, turned to law enforcement and got a job at the Sheriff's Department. He was among the many lay-offs, but Galt hired him this month and he worked his first shift Monday night.

Kevin Tonn, 32, a Roseville High School graduate. After high school he joined the U.S. Army and became a military police officer in upstate New York.

Tonn then went into the firefighter profession, working up to the position of assistant fire chief of a department with 60 employees.

He moved back to the Sacramento area and worked for three years as a Sacramento City Fire inspector. Then he decided to switch back to police work.

"It was always something I wanted to do," Tonn said.

He applied in Galt and was hired in mid-September.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

New Galt police officers

Chris Barney

Allie Beeson

Nathan Meyerdick

Richard Small

Kevin Tonn

Reader Feedback

pooreastside wrote on Nov 19, 2009 7:57 AM:

" Galt is making sense out of tax dollars. Good going. Protect the people first then worry about other things. "

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Galtguy wrote on Nov 19, 2009 5:19 AM:

" Welcome to Galt. Glad to have you aboard.

Now get out there and get to work.

PS- The PD had better not show up at El Rodeo with a new SUV, That would send me over the edge!

PPS- I voted yes for R "

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