{"id":337501,"date":"2026-05-29T13:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337501\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:09","slug":"local-students-from-preschool-to-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337501\/","title":{"rendered":"Local students from preschool to promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>McGaugh Elementary graduating class now, posing with Cpl. Bruno Balderrama (far left) and Officer Victor Ruiz (far right).<\/p>\n

For the officers of the Seal Beach Police Department\u2019s Community Oriented Policing Team, relationships in this community are measured in far more than calls for service. They\u2019re measured in years, memories, and milestones.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Officer Victor Ruiz and Officer Bruno Balderrama made up the original Seal Beach Police Department COP Team established after the passage of Measure BB. Together, they became familiar faces throughout the community\u2014patrolling the beaches and downtown business district, assisting with homeless outreach efforts, and serving as liaisons to McGaugh Elementary School.<\/p>\n

That same year, Ruiz and Balderrama stood alongside a preschool class from the McGaugh campus of the Los Alamitos Unified School District\u2019s Child Development Center for a photo celebrating the children\u2019s next big step: Becoming future McGaugh Sea Lions.<\/p>\n

At the time, it was simply a special community moment. Six years later, it became something much more meaningful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That same preschool class is now a towering group of fifth-graders preparing to graduate from McGaugh Elementary School and move on to either McAuliffe or Oak Middle School in Los Alamitos. As part of their graduation activities, the students\u2019 parents reached out to the Seal Beach Police Department with a simple request\u2014could two officers help to recreate the photo from 2019?<\/p>\n

What the students may not have realized was that Ruiz and Balderrama not only remembered taking the original picture but immediately jumped at the opportunity to stand beside the students once again<\/p>\n

While both officers have since moved on from the COP Team assignment, their connection to the community has remained strong. Officer Ruiz became the department\u2019s canine handler in 2021 alongside his partner, Police Dog Saurus, helping reestablish the Seal Beach Police Department\u2019s canine program for the first time in nearly four decades.<\/p>\n

Cpl. Balderrama has since been promoted and now serves as a watch commander and acting sergeant, helping supervise patrol operations throughout the city. He is also an integral member of the Honor Guard Team and serves as the lead advisor for the department\u2019s Explorer Post.<\/p>\n

For the students, the recreated photo represents six years of growing up in a city where police officers are more than uniforms\u2014they are mentors, supporters, and trusted members of the community. For the officers, it was a reminder of the unique privilege that comes with policing in a small town where they are able to watch children grow from preschoolers into young adults ready for middle school.<\/p>\n

The partnership between the SBPD and McGaugh Elementary continues to be one built on trust, visibility, and genuine connection \u2013 the kind of relationship that helps make Seal Beach so special.<\/p>\n

As the McGaugh Class of 2026 prepares to leave elementary school behind, the SBPD congratulated each and every graduate on this exciting milestone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Officer Ruiz and Cpt. Balderrama have anything to say about it, this won\u2019t be the last recreation photo\u2014they\u2019ll proudly join these students for eighth-grade promotion, high school graduation, and every big milestone still to come.<\/p>\n

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