Officer/Professional Staff of the Year
LAMEKA BELL
It’s no secret that these past months have been trying for everyone at the Hawthorne Police Department. However, Lameka Bell has been a bright spot as she has masterfully coordinated and executed some of the department’s greatest community engagement accomplishments. Lameka Bell has been a member of the Hawthorne Police Department for over 24 years and has been assigned to the Community Affairs Bureau for the past 9 years as a Community Affairs K-9 Specialist.
Lameka stands to be recognized for her diligence and earned achievements in following categories:
Special Program Management – As the Director and Founder of the Hawthorne Power Project- a mentoring program formed in 2015 for underserved girls, Lameka has consistently leveraged every opportunity to advocate for the academic and self-esteem advancements of at-risk girls. Never allowing funding shortage to impede the program’s goals, Lameka has consistently identified and secured resources from donor groups and corporate partners.
Organizational Ambassadorship – Lameka has developed a storied track record of providing exceptional customer service to the cities elderly and special needs population. Oftentimes extending her availability beyond her work day to meet their needs. Lameka has provided compassionate support to those most vulnerable to housing and food insecurities, thereby bringing great credit to herself and to the Hawthorne Police Department.
A longtime resident and HPD volunteer; Shirley Hoffman, had this to say about Lameka’ s character:
“(Lameka) has a strong sense of community that gives her the gift to be able to ascertain the needs of the disadvantaged, but she also has the skills to create and implement programs that enhance and give underserved girls opportunities to experience events they would not normally get to have. I continue to be impressed how she gets ideas for programs and projects and researches to find ways to implement them. I also noticed how the elderly and convalescent community is always happy to see her and Scotty when she comes to visit, which lets them know that HPD cares. It’s such a pleasure to know her and work with her."
In conclusion, in order for one to be irreplaceable, one must always be different and true to themselves. Lameka has been the epitome of irreplaceable over the past year at the Hawthorne Police Department. Her ability to create opportunities, and remain steadfast in the face of adversity and her uncanny aptitude for cultivating relationships has been invaluable to the Hawthorne Police Department. Whether via a warm “good morning” or a motivational “are you ready to be amazing,” Lameka always knows how to strike a chord with her fellow co-workers and community members.
So, it is with great enthusiasm that I endorse Lameka Bell (Community Affairs k-9 Specialist) as Hawthorne Police Department’s Professional Staff of the Year-2020.
Written by Lieutenant Robbie Williams
ERICA BRISTOW
Erica Bristow first joined our department as a parking enforcement officer in 2007. A year later, she became a full-time police officer in 2008. After the academy, Erica worked as a patrol officer in the field responding to calls for service, providing proactive patrol, and engaging with our community for a total of six years. In 2014, Erica Bristow was selected to become an investigator in our detective bureau and has worked in that capacity since that time. Detective Bristow is currently our senior detective.
Through the years, she has worked various types of crimes and gained a well-rounded and solid base of knowledge in investigations. She is someone who does her job quietly and does not expect praise or reward for doing excellent work. Detective Bristow can be relied upon to handle any assignment without complaint in a professional, proficient, and conscientious manner. Detective Bristow has great communication skills and has the adept ability and sensitivity to deal with people and gain their confidence from the most violent suspects to the most distraught victims. She calmly listens as suspects detail their physical and sexual assaults often blaming the victim for their actions but actually admitting their offense. Detective Bristow is also often relied upon to handle cases where suspects resist arrest or assault an officer.
Her calm demeanor and friendly approach put suspects at ease for a confession. In dealing with victims, Detective Bristow has worked sexual assault cases within our Special Victims Unit. She has the ability to put victims at ease as they relay their harrowing experience of being sexually assaulted. Her soothing demeanor helps to support the victim through their crisis and as they proceed through prosecution. The victims are made to never feel alone.
Detective Bristow is the manager for our 290 Sex Registrant program. With the help of her fellow detectives, she makes sure that sex registrants are in compliance with the law. When sex registrants do not comply, she seeks them out and has successfully prosecuted dozens of sex offenders for violating the sex registrant statutes. This is a very important aspect of her position because some of these subjects have committed very serious and offensive crimes. Detective Bristow keeps a close eye on these registrants so that our community is protected. Detective Bristow is our resident domestic violence expert. She handles the majority of our domestic violence cases. Through the years, she has developed solid working relationships with the District Attorneys who specialize in prosecuting these types of cases as well as programs like the New Star Family Justice Center who provide support for the victim and justice system.
Detective Bristow doesn’t stop at just handling her cases, she imparts her knowledge to our officers by providing patrol briefing training on how to effectively handle domestic violence cases and also trains our new detectives. Detective Bristow is often involved with our high profile cases that are sensitive or being closely monitored by the public and the media. One of these cases was the Jacob Munn case who is the suspect that brutally murdered his child’s mother by chasing and shooting her in front of our station. Detective Bristow was our handling detective who worked closely with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau and coordinated our investigation which resulted in a felony filing against the suspect for murder. Detective Bristow is not only committed to her profession but also to our community.
Detective Bristow is active with our Power Project which is a program designed to provide girls from underserved communities the opportunity to grow using mentorship to build self-esteem, positive life imagery, with the belief system that they can accomplish any goal they set and work hard to achieve. As part of Power Project, they play ice hockey alongside our Hawthorne Force Youth Hockey team. Erica is one of the skating coaches who assists new skaters in developing their skating skills for both Power Project and Hawthorne Force. Detective Bristow also assists with our Hawthorne Explorer program. She volunteers her time to teach classes so that Explorers can learn from her law enforcement experience as well as helping to chaperone when Explorers go on trips or go off-site to help other law enforcement agencies.
In addition to all of this, Detective Bristow volunteers to assist our department with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and the Special Olympics Torch Run and Plane Pull. She is also a reliable and committed runner and/or support team member for our Hawthorne Running Team in the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay as well as the Run to Remember LA which honors fallen officers and fire fighters and raises money for the families of the fallen.
Erica is the proud mother of two beautiful young sons with her fellow Hawthorne officer. Even with two young children, she manages to remain a devoted mother as well as a devoted member of our department and our community. Detective Bristow deserves to be acknowledged for her dedication to her profession and the citizens of Hawthorne. Detective Bristow exemplifies a true law enforcement professional who embodies community spirit for the city of Hawthorne and therefore has been selected as Officer of the Year!
Written by Lieutenant Aimee Yoshida