Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention so we may take a moment to recognize a very special guest. Our service and public safety members sacrifice dearly for our communities and our country. Whether it's by serving our communities, protecting us on lands foreign and domestic, volunteering with our youth or uniting us through a common cause, we can never truly thank them for all they do. Tonight, we strive to show our appreciation by honoring them as our community's heroes. Please join me in welcoming tonight's hero, Susanville Police Chief, Kevin Jones.
Chief Jones is no stranger to this gym. In fact, it became his second home at the age of seven when his dad, CCCAA Hall of Fame Coach John Jones, accepted the men's basketball head coaching job at Lassen College in 1977, and where he remained until 1988. Chief Jones graduated from Lassen High School in 1988 and was a standout on the hardwood. After graduation, he decided to pursue his hoop dreams when he was selected to play on an Amateur USA Development Basketball team overseas.
Missing home and with his basketball career behind him, he returned to California and enrolled at Modesto Community College's Criminal Justice Law Enforcement program in the fall of 1988. He graduated from the program a year later, and was hired by Susanville Police Department in June 1989. After graduation from the Police Academy, he was assigned to patrol and during the next 10 years, he also served his hometown as a detective, traffic officer, firearms instructor and training manager for the Susanville Police Department.
In November of 1999, he accepted a job with the Lassen County District Attorney's Office as a senior investigator. He worked for the DA until 2008 and then accepted a position as Sergeant for the Lassen County Sheriff's Office. In April of 2014, he was promoted to captain and assigned as the jail commander for two years. After that, he took over as the Administrative and Operations Commander under Sheriff Dean Growdon. However, last November, he was presented with an offer he couldn't refuse; he returned to the City of Susanville's Police Department to accept the title and honor of Chief of Police.
Chief Jones is a two-time recipient of the American Legion Thomas Tucker Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute. Beyond the badge, Chief Jones is also an alumnus of Lassen College; provides leadership at his church, Community Church of Susanville; coached varsity basketball at Lassen High School from 2008-2014; and was named the 2011 Coach of the Year after winning the Northern Section California Interscholastic Federation Section title in his first year of coaching varsity sports. He also sat on the board for Lassen Union High School, from 2014-18 and served as a volunteer coach for various youth softball, Little League, and middle school athletic teams.
Chief Jones married to the former Michele McGuire of Susanville in 1993. Shelly is also an alumnus of Lassen High School and Lassen College. Chief Jones and Shelly have three children that are all Lassen High School and Lassen College alumni. Cameron, his oldest, is a commercial pilot based in Sacramento, Katie will graduate with her Bachelor's in Nursing next year and Courtney will be entering the pre-vet program at UNR in the fall.
Chief Jones credits his grandpa and dad as his heroes and praises Susanville, calling it an honor and privilege to serve such a fantastic community, filled with great people. Please stand and join me in honoring Lassen County's own, Susanville Police Chief Kevin Jones.
