By Terra Avilla
Let’s talk take this week to talk about of my very own brothers. Someone who is hard at work right this instant as I type this. One of my favorite people, and officers, of all time, Richard Warner.
I obviously met Rich, or “Officer Warner” as you all know him (because let’s be real, who doesn’t know him) at work for the Susanville Police Department.
At that time, I remember thinking that Rich was nice and always helpful, but the two of us were assigned opposite shifts, so we really did not see each other much.
Fast forward months when we were assigned partners, and that was when I really saw who he was as a person. And the “person” that he is – is phenomenal.
I don’t think I ever laughed as much as I did, when Rich and I were partners. He just has a funny sense of humor and even when I was beyond stressed out, he could always make me laugh.
Working as his partner, he helped me grow tremendously as on officer, and Richard has years and years of law enforcement experience and is always willing to stop whatever he was doing to assist me with whatever melodramatic crisis I thought I had.
As we continued being partners, I got to see the side of my partner many aren’t able to see. For one, I cannot tell you the amount of times a day, he stops, looks at his phone, smiles, and tells me to look at a picture of his wife. “Look at my beautiful wife” he constantly says, as he shows me pictures of Ana as he gloats. His adoration for her really melts my heart.
When I was pregnant, poor Richard had the bad luck of hearing me upchuck like clockwork every morning as he acted unbothered and continued typing his reports. I would always come out to a water and a piece of gum on my keyboard.
Richard’s huge heart is not just for his partners, or his wife, (and also his sons and grandchildren) but for this community. Working with Richard, I can tell you I have learned what real passion for helping people looks like, and Richard definitely has it.
He is incredibly thorough (sometimes to the point it drives me insane) and he is not afraid to put in the work to finish a case.
Richard cares about this community and cares about serving it well. In the time that I have known him, he has become more than my coworker and more than my “blue family” he is just my family. Plain and simple.
My girls call him “uncle Rich” and just think that he is the coolest. And the truth is – he is pretty cool.
They know that when Mommy is working with Uncle Rich she is working with someone who would most definitely do anything and everything to make sure I got back to them. I am lucky to have him a part of my journey as a police officer, and as community we are lucky to have him working here. He is forever going to be one of the reasons I love the place we live.
