DPS honors reservist with distinguished award

  • Published
  • By 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  A 944th Maintenance Group member was recently selected as the 2005 Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer of the Year for the Central West Bureau.

Tech. Sgt. Rick Peles, 944th MXG quality assurance aerospace ground equipment technician, has been a DPS officer with the Phoenix Metro West Office for seven years. His professionalism and compassion on the job is what earned him the award.

This award evaluates each candidate's caliber of job performance, off-duty activities and community involvement. What sets it apart from many other awards available to DPS officers is the selection is done by an officer's peers.

"Sergeant Peles is a model NCO who demonstrates the Air Force core values - integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. He is an outstanding member of the 944th Fighter Wing, a dedicated public safety officer, and we're honored to have him as part of our maintenance group," said Col. Linda McCourt, 944th MXG commander.

As part of the DPS award, Sergeant Peles was commended for brining his public safety skills to Luke in assisting with a base safety day. He set up a demonstration to show the effects of alcohol on performing the standardized field sobriety test. More than 2,000 Luke employees were educated about the effects that varying blood alcohol levels have on the average person.

In March 2005, Officer Peles responded to a reported pedestrian with a gun in the northbound lanes of Loop 101. Upon arrival, he observed the pedestrian behind a tree who began firing at Officer Peles. After chasing the suspect on foot, Officer Peles was able to arrest the suspect, who was a gang member and sex offender from Chicago who had recently been released from jail.

A passing motorist caught the incident on videotape, which is now used as a training tool for other officers to highlight the appropriate way to handle a dangerous situation.

Officer Peles was one of the first officers to arrive at a fatal car accident in July 2005 involving a couple who had been married 43 years. The husband was pronounced dead at the scene and the surviving wife expressed her appreciation to Officer Peles for his "compassion and care that he so readily showed and demonstrated." 

The wife was also grateful to Officer Peles for spending "such quality time with me, reassuring me the accident was not my fault. You were so convincing and I believed you. You then drove through a relentless monsoon to retrieve clothing for me to wear out of the hospital. What a wonderful human being you are."

A modest man, Sergeant Peles said it's amazing how much a person's job touches others.

"We all can make a difference in the lives of others," he said. "One must feel good about themselves and that comes from always doing the right thing, even when someone is not looking over your shoulder. If you consistently do the right thing, life falls into place."