Loes Named Ojai Officer Of The Year

Deputy selected from among 39 assigned to Ojai Sheriff's substation

By Lenny Roberts
For the past nine years, Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Loes has dedicated himself to law enforcement in the Ojai Valley. That dedication recently came to the attention of the community when he was overwhelmingly selected by his peers and supervisors as the Ojai Valley’s Officer of the Year for 2007-2008.
“Chris is very deserving of this honor, and I’m proud to have him as a member of the team,” said Ojai Police Chief Bruce Norris.
Norris explained with a station full of hardworking and conscientious deputies who work together day and night under the most difficult of circumstances, the selection process is not easy, and the 39 deputies assigned to patrol the city and unincorporated areas of the valley must know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, personalities and character.
“If I have a difficult case to work, I call on Chris,” Norris added. “He is one of the most effective and tireless deputies I’ve met. Though easy-going and friendly, you don’t want him after you if you’ve committed a crime. He has great investigative skills, and he has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. It’s deputies like Chris who help keep the crime rate low in the Ojai Valley.”
Loes started in law enforcement as a reserve police officer with the Santa Barbara Police Department, and came to the Sheriff’s Department in 1994. After graduating from the Sheriff’s Academy, he was assigned to the main jail where he worked for less than a year before his first patrol assignment in Camarillo. He is one of Ojai’s four field training officers and a member of the Ojai bike team.
In 1997 he received the department’s Medal of Merit for assisting his partner after a near-fatal car accident. In 2002, he was chosen as the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers Officer of the Year.
“Chris has been in law enforcement for 16 years, but still works with the enthusiasm of a rookie deputy,” Norris said. “He is consistently in the top third in the station in arrests and field contacts. His patrol sergeant says he has one of the strongest work ethics he has seen, and he never says no to an assignment.
“When I told Chris he had been selected as Officer of the Year, in his respectful and humble way, he tried to convince me that others in the station were more deserving. He did his best to decline the honor, saying, ‘I don’t need the recognition. I just work hard and do my job.’ I finally had to tell Chris he didn’t have any choice.”
Loes lives in the valley with his wife, Laura, and their children, Caprice, Delaney and Jacob.