OPD RECOGNITIONS
The Odessa Police Department recently recognized the following:
Chief Mike Gerke recently celebrated his 25th year with OPD.
He is a man of integrity, good ethics, a forward thinker, innovative and strong leader.
Capt. Jerry Harvell started his career at Plainview PD in 1989 and moved to Odessa PD in 1994. He’s been with the Odessa Police Department now for 28 years.
Detective Brian Cordero speaks fluent Spanish and helps OPD with cases in the community, but it also helps OPD get messages out in Spanish.
Cpl. Matthew Ramirez has been with the Odessa Police Department for three years in November.
He was born and raised in El Paso. Ramirez became a police officer to help and mentor the youth in the community that he serves.
He said, “Growing up I would hear Police are just here to harass and take you to jail. I want to change that mindset and be a positive role model.” Personally, he’s a big Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns fan. He loves learning about history and visiting historical places.
Cpl. William McCloud (veteran) has been with OPD for four years. He was born in Brady and raised in Bay City.
McCloud also spent 12 years of service in the U.S. Navy active and reserve. He spent one tour in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Pricilla Hughes has been with OPD for eight years. She is part of the Crisis Negotiations Team, a field training officer and a driving instructor for the emergency vehicle operations.
Hughes has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and was born and raised in Abilene. Her late father retired from the TDCJ after 25 plus years, her stepdad was a probation officer for 10 plus years, her older brother is a fireman in Midland, and her little sister is a CNA.
Cpl. Anthony Martinez has been with the Odessa Police Department for 2 1/2 years. He was born and raised in Fabens.
Prior to his career in law enforcement, he was in the U.S. Army as a Field Artillery cannon crew member for 6 years. He also worked in the Odessa Fire Marshals Office.
Martinez says he truly enjoys working for OPD and helping out the public in anyway possible.
Cpl. Joseph Dominguez joined OPD in 2013. Dominguez also wanted to impact the community in any positive he could, the way many other officers do on a daily basis.
“I wanted to be the police officer for others that I would want my family to have if they ever needed a police officer,” Dominguez said. He feels blessed that OPD gave him the opportunity to serve and protect Odessa. Originally, he is from El Paso.
Cpl. Felipe Cobos joined OPD in 2016 and is currently assigned to patrol. He is also a member of OPD’s SWAT team. Cobos was raised in Pecos. He is very friendly and always goes above and beyond to help others.
OPD CITIZEN’S ACADEMY GRADS
Audrey Branum recently graduated from the Odessa Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy, 12-week program. Branum learned more about Crime Scene Investigations, the K-9 unit and SWAT.
For more information about the program, visit tinyurl.com/4un6ne7z.
April Wright is a recent of the Odessa Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy.
ECSO PROMOTIONS
Ector County Sheriff’s Office recently announced three promotions Lt. James McKinney has been promoted to captain over the jail division, Cpl. Alex Ligon has been promoted to sergeant over communications division and Deputy Joshua Davis has been promoted from CID to sergeant over Patrol Shift 4.
GRADUATES
ATHENS, OHIO Alex Trent of Odessa graduated with a MSA Sports Administration degree from Ohio University’s College of Business in spring 2022.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA Mark Fanous of Odessa graduated with a bachelors of business administration degree from the College of William & Mary.
PRESIDENT’S LIST
BANGOR, MAINE Grace Emig of Seminole has been named to the President’s List at Husson University for the spring semester.
During the spring semester, Emig was enrolled in Husson’s Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science/Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.
Students who make the President’s List must be enrolled as an undergraduate student, carry a full-time load of 12 credit hours, complete all attempted courses in the time allotted for the semester, and achieve a 3.80 to 4.0 semester grade-point average. Credits from pass/fail classes do not qualify toward meeting the minimum credit hour requirement.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO Jessica Parris of Odessa has been named to the Southeast Missouri State University Dean’s List for academic achievement during the spring 2022 semester.
Students named to the list earned at least a 3.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, completed at least 12 hours of standard graded credit, achieved no grade below a B and received no failing grades in enrolled, credit/no credit or pass/fail courses.
HUNTSVILLE Jessica Machuca of Odessa has been named to the President’s Honor Roll at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville for the spring semester.
To be eligible, students just achieve a perfect 4.0 grade point average in all work attempted while enrolled in not less than 12 semester hours. The university would like to recognize the following students for earning the honor for the Spring 2022 semester.
DEAN’S LIST
HUNTSVILLE Local and area students have been named to the Dean’s List of Academic Honors at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville for the spring semester.
To be eligible, undergraduates must achieve a grade point average of at least 3.5 out of a perfect 4.0 in all work attempted while enrolled in not less than 12 semester hours.
Honored students are: Jessica Machuca of Odessa, Cody Roman of Kermit, Clemente Camarillo of Pecos and Beverly Fehr of Seminole.
IOWA CITY, IA David Behm of Imperial was named to the Dean’s List at the University of Iowa for the spring semester.
Behm is a third year student in Iowa’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and is majoring in Cinema.
To be eligible, students must have a total of nine semester hours of earned credit (spring 2022), with eight semester hours of graded credit with a GPA of 3.50 or higher.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA Mark Fanous of Odessa was named to the Dean’s List at the College of William & Mary for the spring 2022 semester.
In order to achieve Dean’s List status, a full-time degree seeking undergraduate student must take at least 12 credit hours and earn a 3.6 quality point average during the semester.
INITIATED
LEXINGTON, VA Marianne Lee of Odessa was recently initiated into the Mississippi College Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society.
