Five new Manteca Police officers were formally given their oath of office on Thursday at the Manteca Transit Center.
Three non-sworn department personnel were added to the roster as well — Monique Grijalva, dispatcher; Hayley Unites, animal services officer and Debra Martin, records clerk.
Two supervisors were promoted, one to the rank of sergeant and the other becoming a lieutenant.
Steve Schluer was elevated to the rank of lieutenant and Joshua Gutierrez to sergeant in the patrol division.
City Clerk Lisa Blackmon administered the oath office.
Sgt. Gutierrez graduated from the San Joaquin Delta College Police Academy in 2006 and went to work for the Stockton Police Department that year. He served as Community Service Officer, Hostage Negotiation Team member, and as a detective in Robbery Homicide. Chief Jodie Estarziau credited him with being a forensic artist as well.
Schluer holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Government with a minor in Economics from CSU Sacramento. He is also a graduate of the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium in 1996.
His awards include being named Officer of the Year in 2010, Meritorious Service Award in 2012, and Humanitarian Award in 2017 by the City of Manteca. He began his career in law enforcement as a police cadet in 1989, becoming a police trainee in 1996 and a sworn officer in 1997.
Schluer has been a field training officer, a DUI officer, on the Hostage Negotiations Team, a school resource officer, a traffic motorcycle officer, on the Delta Regional Auto Theft Task Force Team and a detective in cases of child abuse sexual assault and robbery/homicide.
In 2016 he became the administrative sergeant, public information officer, training manager, field training officer coordinator, chaplain coordinator, reserve police officer coordinator, Explorer Post 805 coordinator and Hostage Negotiating Team leader. Schluer is also the president of the Manteca Unified School Board of Trustees.
The five new police officers on the streets of Manteca include Samuel Gallego who steps into the shoes of his father longtime MPD officer Sam; other new officers are Salvador Montero, Steven Quilici, Russ Smith and Michael Wise.
Gallego also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice and graduated from the South Bay Regional Police Academy in San Jose in 2014. He was a member of the U.S. Army Military Police from 2008 to 2013 and served as a patrolman with the City of Oakdale for four years from 2014 to 2018 where he was given a lifesaving award.
Salvador Montero attended CSU Stanislaus and graduated from the San Joaquin Delta College Police Academy after serving in the U.S. Marines Corps for four years as an infantryman. Montero also worked for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department for four years on patrol, SWAT, gangs and street crimes.
Steven Quilici graduated from the police academy at the South Bay Regional Training Consortium in 2013, associated with San Mateo College. He worked as a police officer in Escalon from November of 2014 to January of 2019 being promoted to field training officer in January of last year.
Quilici received the DUI/MADD award in Escalon in 2018 and was voted Officer of the Year by his peers in 2017. He enjoys writing, recording music, fishing and spending time with his family.
Russ Smith graduated from DeVry University and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Administration with a concentration in policing. He graduated from the basic academy at the Stanislaus County Regional Training Center. Smith was in the U.S. Cost Guard for four years as a boarding team member and as a small boat operator. He also worked for the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office for two years as a SWAT team member and a Defensive Tactics Instructor. His military ribbons included a Letter of Commendation and a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Michael Wise holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management along with an Associate Degree in Applied Aircraft Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. He is a graduate of the Delta College Police Academy.
Wise spent four years with the San Joaquin County Sheriff Office in gang investigations and as a SWAT operator, spending eight years in the U.S. Air Force as a staff sergeant where he received the USAF Commendation Medal and three U.S. Air Force Achievement Medals. Wise was also named the most distinguished graduate in 2010 from the U.S. Air Force Leadership School.
To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.
