A ceremony held at the Ceres Community Center on Tuesday morning, Jan. 10 saw the promotion of six officers into leadership roles within the Ceres Police Department.
Lt. Chris Perry became captain, replacing Patrick Crane who retired after 24 years with the department.
Perry began as a police explorer in 1992 and a patrol officer in May 1997. After being promoted to sergeant in September 2006, he helped oversee dispatch and the traffic unit. Perry was made a lieutenant in 2015. His career has included being a detective assigned to the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, field training officer, canine handler, crisis negotiations and participating in the police drone program.
Keith Griebel, who was a sergeant, became a lieutenant. His time with Ceres Police began as an explorer in 1994. He was hired as a reserve police dispatcher in July 1997 and a full-time police officer on Aug. 18, 1998. Griebel has worked as a detective, member of the Street Crimes Unit (since disbanded) and SWAT team, a range master, field training officer and adviser to Volunteers in Public Safety (VIPS), chaplains and police explorers.
Trenton Johnson was promoted to lieutenant from the rank of sergeant. In 1993 Johnson started out as an explorer scout while in high school and was hired as a reserve police officer in January 1998 and became to full-time sworn officer on Aug. 18, 1998. He became a sergeant in June 2008 and detective sergeant in July 2019. His police career has included the SWAT team, drone team, range master, field training officer and detective.
Promoted to rank of sergeant were Officers Jeffrey Godfrey, Julio Amador and Trinidad Viramontes.
Hired on Nov. 2, 2020, Officer Jeff Godfrey was raised in Modesto where he graduated from Davis High School and went on to earn a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. Jeff started his law enforcement career in 1998 as a police officer with Hughson Police Services. Two years later he became a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy where he worked several assignments including Field Training Officer, SWAT team member and Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency officer.
In 2012 Godfrey became a sergeant at the UC Merced University Police Department but left to join Ceres Police Department. Godfrey is passionately involved with Special Olympics and serves as the area liaison between Special Olympics and law enforcement agencies. He serves on the Executive Board for the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run.
Sergeant Julio Amador started his career with Ceres Police in August 2004 as an officer. He has been a canine handler, detective, crisis negotiator, impact weapons instructor and Taser instructor.
Starting out as a police explorer in 1998, Sgt. Trinidad Viramontes was first hired on Feb. 21, 2002 as a sworn officer. His various assignments have included traffic officer, SWAT team, field training officer, detective, and instructor in the use of less lethal force, Taser and teargas.
