From Preschool to Promotion: Officers Reunite with Students to Mark Milestone

The following is a press release from the Seal Beach Police Department and does not reflect editorial work done by Spotlight Schools. Submit a press release to Spotlight Schools by emailing hello@spotlightschools.com.

For the officers of the Seal Beach Police Department's Community Oriented Policing (COP) Team, relationships in this community are measured in far more than calls for service. They're measured in years, memories, and milestones.

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 - patrolling the beaches and downtown business district, assisting with homeless outreach efforts, and serving as liaisons to McGaugh Elementary School.

That same year, Ruiz and Balderrama stood alongside a preschool class from the McGaugh campus of the Los Alamitos Unified School District's Child Development Center (CDC) for a photo celebrating the children's next big step: becoming future McGaugh Sea Lions. At the time, it was simply a special community moment. Seven years later, it became something much more meaningful.

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' parents reached out to the Seal Beach Police Department with a simple request - could two officers help to recreate the photo from 2019?

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.

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's canine handler in 2021 alongside his partner, Police Dog Saurus, helping reestablish the Seal Beach Police Department's canine program for the first time in nearly four decades.

Corporal Balderrama has since 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's Explorer Post.

For the students, the recreated photo represents seven years of growing up in a city where police officers are more than uniforms - they 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.

The partnership between the Seal Beach Police Department and McGaugh Elementary School continues to be one built on trust, visibility, and genuine connection - the kind of relationship that helps make Seal Beach so special.

As the McGaugh Class of 2026 prepares to leave elementary school behind, the Seal Beach Police Department would like to congratulate each and every graduate on this exciting milestone. And if Officer Ruiz and Corporal Balderrama have anything to say about it, this won't be the last recreated photo - they'll proudly join these students for eighth grade promotion, high school graduation, and every big milestone still to come.

Editor's Note: This press was release was edited to correct the number of years between the photographs being taken. Also, one of the students pictured is the child of a co-founder of Spotlight Schools.