Police Group Calls Slain Officer ‘Hero’

Ventura County’s Peace Officers Assn. called slain Sheriff’s Deputy Peter John Aguirre Jr. a hero Friday but stopped short of awarding him a Medal of Valor despite continuing protests by his family.

Stung by criticism from the Aguirre family and Sheriff Larry Carpenter about giving the fallen deputy a Distinguished Service Medal last week instead of the Medal of Valor, the association issued a statement Friday explaining that the medal given to Aguirre was really the group’s highest honor.

But family members remained unconvinced.

“It just looks like they’re trying to cover up their mistake,” said Aguirre’s uncle, Don Aguirre.

The 26-year-old rookie deputy and father of a young daughter was shot and killed July 17 after responding to a domestic disturbance call in Meiners Oaks.

In the statement released Friday the association’s board of directors said that “Deputy Peter Aguirre Jr. was indeed a hero.”

The statement also said that the group created the Distinguished Service Medal in 1996 specifically to honor officers killed in the line of duty.

“This new Distinguished Service Medal award is meant to be and is the highest award from the Peace Officers Assn. of Ventura County,” the letter said.

But earlier this week Aguirre’s parents and widow, who were given the award in his honor, returned the medal, saying that he deserved to be recognized for his “bravery above and beyond the call of duty.”

In response to the family’s symbolic gesture as well as a critical letter from Carpenter that faulted the association, Oxnard Police Officer Gino Rodriguez, the association’s new president, met Thursday afternoon with Aguirre’s widow, Dina Aguirre and with Carpenter.

On the day he died, Aguirre and three other deputies responded to the domestic disturbance call. Aguirre went to the door of the Meiners Oaks home and was met by a distraught woman. When he walked past the woman, Michael Johnson, her estranged husband, came out of the shower naked with two handguns and fired at Aguirre. The rookie deputy never got his gun out of its holster.

Johnson, who was arrested, is awaiting trial on murder charges. His defense attorneys have not contested that he shot Aguirre.

During an awards ceremony April 5, the association handed out two Medals of Valor, one to Aguirre’s partner, Deputy James Fryhoff, for his role in arresting Johnson.

The group did not feel that Aguirre’s actions met the criteria for the Medal of Valor, Don Aguirre said Friday.

“They say the award is given to those that show, ‘Extraordinary bravery, above and beyond the call of duty, where risk of life actually existed and the officer was aware of such risk,’ ” he said. “Well, Petey did show ‘bravery above and beyond the call of duty.’ ”

The association had hoped to “help heal the family’s wounds,” said Santa Paula Police Cmdr. Bob Gonzales, who is one of 16 members of the association’s board of directors.

But Don Aguirre said the family still is not satisfied and hopes that the association will eventually admit that it made a mistake and apologize.

The Peace Officers Assn. of Ventura County was formed 26 years ago to “enhance the image of law enforcement by creating a better and more sophisticated rapport between the citizens of our community and peace officers within the county,” according to its statement.

Using only private donations the group has been able to recognize 186 Ventura County peace officers and civilians for their acts of heroism and bravery with medals of valor and medals of merit.

Aguirre will be honored April 23 in a Sheriff’s Department ceremony when his name will be added to a memorial wall. The family will also go to Sacramento and Washington, where Aguirre will be honored along with other fallen peace officers, family members said.