Friday, Sep 11 2009, 4:57 pm
By Lydia M. Harris/Tri-County Newspapers
Bob Pasero will wake up an ordinary citizen Oct. 15.
Orland’s police chief since 2004, Pasero will retire Oct. 14 after 31 years in law enforcement — 24 of them in Orland.
Almost giddy since turning in his resignation letter Sept. 3, Pasero is happy about retiring from fulltime duty, but he will not be going far. The day after his formal retirement, he becomes the interim police chief, working 20 hours a week, until a new chief is hired.
He won’t have to worry about getting bored though.
“I have so many irons in the fire,” Pasero said, then listed a dozen organizations and events with which he is involved. Most recently, he signed on as state chaplain for the Missing In America Project, which searches for and conducts memorial services for veterans who get lost in the system or die alone or homeless.
“I’m working with the national chaplain developing protocols for memorial services, so there’s consistency in the Missing In America program,” Pasero said.
Referring to himself as a “frustrated writer,” he said he hopes to put together more articles, especially for motorcycle magazines. His historical novel, “Justice Delayed,” will be released later this year. In it, Pasero presents a fictionalized account of a Dunsmuir police chief’s murder in 1935.
He also will continue to sit on the advisory board for the Foundation Gate Burn Institute and the leadership board at Victory in Christ Community Church, where he is music director and plays guitar in the band.
And, he besides remaining active with the Volunteers in Police Service, Pasero will stay on the boards of the Joy Johndrow Memorial Motor-Icicle Run, which raises money for the Northern California Burn Foundation’s Camp Eagle Flight; and the Sunburn Run, a fundraiser to create a memorial for Orland’s fallen heroes.
But life will not be all work and no play. Pasero also plans to ride his motorcycle “a lot more,” spend time with his children and his “lovely bride” Priscilla and “use my brand new trailer that I bought last year. It’s never been used,” he said.
Living the ‘lifestyle’
“Law enforcement’s never been a job and never even a career. Law enforcement is a way of life,” Pasero said, noting that when his daughter and son were growing up, he missed almost all their school and sports activities because he was working.
Pasero completed the 13-week Butte College Basic Academy in 1977 — it is now 26 weeks, he said. For about a year, he went back to his earlier career in broadcasting — he was a broadcast news reporter, sports reporter, sports director and TV weatherman — and volunteered with the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, where his older brother was an officer. Since there was a no-nepotism rule, Pasero had to find work in law enforcement elsewhere.
His first job came in March 1978 in Dunsmuir. He said on his first day, he spent twice his first month’s salary because he had to buy his own uniforms, guns, gun belts, ballistic vests, jackets and even badges.
That first stint as a police officer paid $824 a month. Five years later, he joined the Orland Police Department and made $1,100 a month. He said as chief of police, his retirement salary will be about $5,000 a month.
“It only took me 32 years,” Pasero said.
After his son was born, Pasero spent two years in the now-debunked Glenn County Constable’s Office before returning to the Orland force in 1992. He moved up through the ranks, making sergeant in 1997 before becoming chief in 2004.
The good and the bad
There have been good days and bad days on the force for Pasero. The best days, he said, were when “I got to deliver babies and got a chance to save a life a few times.”
“There’s no greater reward than saving a life. Those are marvelous opportunities. When,” he asked reflectively, “was the last time any of us have had the opportunity to make that kind of difference in somebody’s life?”
His worst days?
“I’ve had the worst day in the job when I held children when they died,” Pasero said.
As hard as that was, he kept doing the work.
“It’s the people and the opportunity to help. I am absolutely serious,” he said. “I know it sounds trite, but I got into this type of work to fight for truth, justice and the American way.”
Police are “in the field to make a positive difference. I came in with the idea of doing the right thing for the right reason. I still do,” Pasero said.
He added that he’s not concerned about leaving because the city has “a great group of people to serve them at the police department. I have the utmost confidence in their abilities. I trust them with my life and I know the citizens in this community can trust them with theirs.”
Changes over the years
Many things have changed in law enforcement since Pasero first put on a badge. DNA evidence did not exist when he started. And many things we take for granted today — like computers — were found in very few departments. Of course, the now ubiquitous cell phone had not been invented yet. Other things were just coming onto the scene.
“Miranda was still such a critical issue that one misprint on the Miranda card,” which had to be read, even when officers had it memorized, resulted in numerous arrests being overturned, Pasero said.
“Genetic finger printing didn’t come in until 1984,” he noted, and “breathalyzers were just coming in. Now we have evidentiary devices we carry into the field.”
The biggest difference, however, “is how domestic violence cases are handled. It’s changed tremendously,” Pasero said, explaining that “it used to be that domestic violence victims were victimized by the abuser then by the system as well.”
Now officers are allowed to make an arrest when domestic violence is not committed in front of them, Pasero noted.
According to current law, “the ‘victim’ is not a victim; the victim is now the state of California. It’s similar to homicide,” he said.
Currently on the board of Westside Domestic Violence Shelter, Pasero said he will turn over the spot to the next chief, “but I will stay involved. It’s an important issue.”
Another change is the increase in crime. Pasero said he believes “the complexion of crime has changed because the way people view and value life and property has changed.”
“Often they have no value for life. Often they have no conception of private property. It didn’t seem to me that our society was so entitlement driven when I started,” Pasero said. “We’re not teaching mores and values.”
“Because of that, they have no real appreciation of their elders, no property value appreciation, no appreciation of life itself. Half the kids we deal with consistently, if you ask how long they think they’ll live, they ” 25, 30, maybe I’ll die in prison.”
Contact Lydia Harris at 934-6800 or lharris@tcnpress.com.