VENTURA : Turner Is Named Officer of the Year

A Ventura police officer who has solved a number of high-profile cases was honored Thursday as the department’s Officer of the Year.

Officer Tim Turner, a five-year veteran of the Ventura Police Department, was recognized in a City Hall ceremony in which the department also singled out citizens and other officers for tribute.

Turner, 29, was a member of the Special Enforcement Team last year and is a respected speaker on narcotics and gangs at public forums, said Chief Richard F. Thomas.

In recent months, Turner solved several high-profile crimes. In one, he identified the culprits responsible for a spree of pellet-gun attacks on cars and businesses and linked the suspects to other crimes in the area, Thomas said.

In another, Turner and a fellow officer quickly apprehended a suspect in a non-injury shooting at Ventura High School, and Turner persuaded the youth to confess, Thomas said.

On his own time, Turner recruited boys to attend the Piles Boys Camp program and helped transport them there.

Also honored Thursday was Len Rodkoff as the department’s Volunteer of the Year for contributing 2,000 volunteer hours since 1990.

Rodkoff designed a management training program for the department and created a system for gathering and managing intelligence.

Most recently, Rodkoff developed a program for the department’s crime-analysis section to store information about gang members.