Employee Spotlight - K-9 Ofc. Jacob Gomez

Published on February 02, 2022

A police officer stands confidently next to a K-9 dog in front of a Maricopa Police vehicle. The scene is outdoors under a cloudy sky.

K-9 Ofc. Jacob Gomez joined MPD in January, 2015.  Jacob and his wife hail from the great state of Wisconsin.  Prior to his career in law enforcement, Jacob worked in the commercial loans banking industry.  Then, about 11 years ago, Jacob and his wife moved out to Maricopa, where he became a special education teacher, at Maricopa High School.  

 

But as Jacob was enjoying his years in the education field, he realized he wanted something more from his career.  Jacob’s father in-law was a cop and had a real positive influence on him.  Jacob did some ride-alongs with MPD and realized that in law enforcement, he could fulfill his career passion to interact with the public and help them solve their problems.  Jacob applied with MPD and the rest, as they say, is history! 

 

Jacob is currently an MPD K-9 Officer.  Our K-9 Unit supports the patrol division with a variety of capabilities, including offender apprehensions, drug detection, article searches, building searches, and missing persons searches.  In addition to working fulltime with MPD, Jacob and his wife are the youth pastors at the church they attend in Maricopa.  Jacob and his wife have four children.  Jacob has a degree in special education, a bachelor’s degree in church ministries, and he is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration. 

 

Hobbies / Other Interests:

  • Basketball / Jacob is a former youth basketball coach and he played on a college D-3 basketball team.
  • Youth pastoring (grades 6 – 12).

 

Favorites: 

  • Sports teams:Dallas Cowboys / University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers football and basketball.
  • Restaurants:A & W All American Food, Wisconsin / Rocky Rococo Pizza and Pasta, Wisconsin.
  • Ice cream:Vanilla / Any Brand.
  • Movies:Marvel series of superheroes.
  • Music:Creed / Toby Keith, country music.

 

Something his co-workers don’t know about him: 

Not only is Jacob an academic, but he’s also an athlete.  Jacob was on the school track teams in junior high and high school.  His best time was a 4:42 mile in high school.  Jacob still runs to stay in shape and calls it his therapy. 

 

Most embarrassing moment:

When Jacob was in the police academy, one day during PT training, he lost his combination lock for his locker.  Because of this, he was disciplined by the academy staff and was required to remain in his PT uniform (gym shorts and t-shirt) for the entire day, while the other cadets changed into their other uniforms.  Jacob was also subjected to lots of extra push-ups and running, to help him remember to keep track of his gear.  Needless to say, Jacob never misplaced his lock again. 

 

Proudest accomplishments:

Getting married and having a family -- sharing his life with his wife and kids as they all grow up together / Becoming a K-9 officer.  Taking pride in his accomplishments from all of his hard work and seeing the developments and achievements of his K-9 partner. 

 

Career Highlight:

His friendships with his high school students who’ve since graduated, but still consider Jacob as their friend / Seeing them develop and flourish into successful, young adults. 

 

Favorite part of the job:

Crimefighting – getting illegal drugs off of the street and putting criminals in jail / Interacting with our community – talking with our citizens and education them about his dog and receiving community support. 

 

Least favorite part of the job:

As a K-9 officer, Jacob is on-call most of the time and has dog-care responsibilities off-duty as well as on-duty.  So, you really have to adapt to being busy all of the time! 

 

Worst job ever:

Prior to getting into law enforcement, Jacob worked as a dietary aide in a nursing home.  He had to blend the food and medicine together for the elderly patients and clean up after they were done eating.  Jacob says the smell was pretty intense! 

 

Definition of success:

When you’re able to achieve things in life which help to build up yourself and those around you. 

 

Role models / Influences:

Jacob’s dad.  Jacob’s dad was born in Mexico and worked hard to move his family to the United States to have a better life.  Jacob said his dad is amazing, has a never-quit mindset, and always puts his family first. 

 

Jacob, we are truly blessed to have you onboard and it’s an honor to serve with you! 

 

Well, that concludes this edition of the MPD Employee Spotlight.  Stay tuned for the next edition, coming soon! 

 

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