Colton’s Chamber of Commerce awarded Police Officer Anthony Barron Police Officer of the Year. This achievement did not come a long way considering Barron knew he wanted to be a police officer at just 14 years old.
Joining the Colton Police force in February of 2017, Barron stated that helping the community and reinforcing the law has been the most rewarding for him. One of his most recent projects and passions has been part of working with the homeless and providing them with aid. Barron is working with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department homeless outreach team known as HOPE. Barron showed great pride and excitement for this project and hopes that the next resource in line is establishing more social workers within the project.
Barron pointed out that although the project is making progress, it still presents its own challenges. “Some people just don’t want to accept the help,” he stated as some homeless show refusal. Still, Officer Barron is determined to make a difference in the Colton community and provide help to those who need it.
Along with the work being rewarding for him, he pointed out how supportive the community of Colton is of its police department and how hard the department works hard to keep the community safe. “These officers show great pride in their work,” he said, “it’s not just a job for them.” A great mentor and friend that has been solid to him is Sergeant Matthew Collins, who has been showing him the ropes and providing him with the tools and resources needed for the next line of police work.
When asked what his strongest principle for his professional career was, Barron strongly claims that keeping the community safe and practicing safe and fair law is number one.
The words of advice that Officer Barron has to offer for anybody considering joining the police force were: “Finish college or join the military and getting more life experience is important, especially in the force when you’re dealing with people and real-life situations.
The future for the police force is bright for Officer Barron, in the next five years he sees an increase in training for police officers and hopes that the view on police officers change. Considering how important this line of work is to Barron, this future shows great promise.
Congratulations to Officer Anthony Barron for his Police Officer of the Year award. Thank you for demonstrating hard work and dedication in your work and most importantly, thank you for keeping our community safe!