COSTA MESA : Police Department Honors 7 for Service

Seven members of the Police Department were honored Thursday at the 31st annual Police Awards Luncheon for outstanding service during 1993.

The Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce sponsored the community event.

Robert Phillips, an 18-year veteran, was honored as Officer of the Year, said Barbara Scott, secretary to Police Chief David L. Snowden.

Phillips “closed more of his cases than anybody else” last year while working as a detective, Scott said.

“He treated every case, no matter how minor it might seem, as a biggie,” Scott said.

His investigations dealt with homicide, rape, narcotics violations, gang activity, gambling and child abuse.

Civilian of the Year honors went to Holly Carver, an administrative assistant in charge of crime analysis.

A nine-year veteran of the department, Carver combines her knowledge of statistics and computers to help police prevent crime and apprehend criminals.

“She now puts all the crime statistics into forms and comes up with probabilities of when the next bank robbery is going to be and where it’s going to be and even who’s going to do it,” Scott said. “It’s amazing, the numbers that are floating in her head.”

Barry Schleider and Robert Stock were recognized as Reserve Officers of the Year.

Schleider has been honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for making more than 100 drunk-driving arrests during each of the past three years.

Stock’s contributions include buying and distributing toys to children in local hospitals during the Christmas season.

Also recognized were Officers Bob Fate, Russ Rose and Jess Gilman, who received awards from the California Highway Patrol for their efforts in recovering stolen vehicles.