FPD swears in two new officers

The Fallon Police Department recently swore in two new police officers as family and friends looked on.

Mayor Ken Tedford Jr. read the oath to the two new officers at the ceremony when swearing them in. Officers Jessica Zamora and Christopher Bloomfield said they were both thrilled to join the FPD. Zamora also becomes the fifth female police officer to join FPD since the 1980s.

Bloomfield, a resident of Fallon since 1999 and graduate of Churchill County High School in 2010, said he was thrilled with his accomplishment after the ceremony.

“I have lived in this community since I was 7 years old,” Bloomfield said. “I’ve always wanted to help the community and now I can do that and help improve the community. I want to give back to the place I call home.”

Zamora, who uprooted from Portola, Calif., for the job, is excited for her new position.

“I moved from California two weeks ago to come and be a police officer for Fallon,” Zamora said. “I grew up in a law enforcement family, and I watched how they helped others and how they loved their job. I wanted to do the same so I decided to follow in their footsteps. I want to help others, and I will do my best to do so.”

Zamora said she has adjusted well to Fallon since moving from California because the town from which she came is similar to Fallon’s size.

“It’s great when people start out their career in public service,” Tedford said. “It’s a good feeling and police work is difficult. It’s great to see young people who want to serve the public. You can tell by the smile on the officer’s faces and their families that what they accomplished is great. It’s a great thing to see this and it gives you a good feeling.”

The officers attended Peace Officer Standard Training at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City, and they said they learned quite a bit while there.

Zamora said she learned to be a stronger person and that being strong not only helps her but also helps others. She said she has learned to stay positive and that being positive helps to make the people around positive as well.

Being more assertive and listening to the whole situation is something Bloomfield has learned.

“I know not to act blindly,” he added.

Chief of Police Kevin Gehman said high character people make great police officers.

“We take the high character people and make them police officers,” Gehman said. “Chris and Jessica are both people with great characters and I have no doubt they’ll be strong officers for the force and do their job well. We expect them to acclimate to the department and the community and do a great job for everyone.”

Bloomfield and Zamora agreed that when going through POST, their opinion changed during the process.

“It was good to get the experience of it all, the law enforcement state of mind,” Bloomfield said.

Zamora said learning the ethics and the “positives and the negatives” of law enforcement is what she took from POST.

Both Bloomfield and Zamora said they are looking forward to starting their careers as police officers.