Traffic officer retires in steps

Deepa Bharath

For 30 years, he has held a reputation in the Police Department as

“one of the nicest guys.”

Today, Traffic Investigator Floyd Waldron will officially retire

from a position he has held for most of his career -- well, mostly

retire.

He will continue as a reserve officer and help out traffic

officers with the expertise that they have come to value greatly over

the years.

Waldron, 52, started his career as a patrol officer in 1973.

Within a year and a half, he had become a traffic officer and, in

three years, a traffic investigator.

“Except for three years after that, I’ve been a traffic

investigator most of my career,” he said.

Waldron enjoyed doing what he did because he “liked to help

people,” he said.

“I liked everything about the job,” he said. “Taking accident

reports, doing investigations. I guess I never got tired of it.”

The case that stands out in his memory, Waldron said, is one in

which a man driving a stolen van from Santa Ana sped through 19th

Street, broadsided and killed two Estancia High School students who

were skipping school to go surfing.

“That was one case I remember well because I followed it right

through to the trial stage,” he said. “I got the opportunity to work

with the district attorney on that one. It was interesting.”

The biggest challenges he faced during his career were the ones

that made him most frustrated, Waldron said.

“I’ve worked on many hit-and-run cases where I’ll know a person

was involved,” he said. “But I wouldn’t have evidence or witnesses to

actually prove that they did it. That was extremely frustrating for

me because you really want to help someone by solving the case, but

your hands are tied.”

But Waldron’s persistence, his quest for perfection and his

ability to maintain an even temperament at any time were his greatest

strengths, his colleagues say.

“In the 20-plus years that I’ve worked with him, I’ve never ever

seen him mad,” Lt. Dale Birney said. “He’s very thorough with his

investigations and, when he interviews people, he’s low key and

doesn’t put anyone in the defensive.”

Lt. Les Gogerty, who supervised Waldron when he was a traffic

lieutenant, called him “a very conscientious and respectful officer.”

“He was a wonderful person to supervise,” Gogerty said. “His work

is impeccable, and he was always there when needed. He was very

positive and had an outstanding work ethic.”

Waldron says he plans to spend more time with his family -- wife

Karen, seven sons and five daughters.

“We still have half of our kids with us at home,” he said. “I

still have a few boys involved in sports and I look forward to

helping out wherever possible.”

Waldron will, however, return on Monday as a reserve officer and

will spend another month or so training Officer Carlos Diaz, who will

replace him as traffic investigator .

“I’ve been doing this for so long, it would’ve been hard for me to

quit suddenly,” he said.