“I was dedicated to making my job my hobby, and today my job is still my hobby,” she said.
The Kiwanis Club of Glendale recognized Cisneros and five other Glendale police officers — Joe Allen, Kelly Annis, Dan Suttles, John Genna and Suzanne O’Brien — on Friday during a club meeting honoring the officers’ dedication to law enforcement.
Genna and O’Brien were lauded for their work in helping out seniors who were being taken advantage of by caretakers. The officers helped the seniors get assistance from family members.
Annis, a 28-year police veteran, was recognized for the passion that he exerts in his work daily.
He always goes out his way to do favors for fellow officers and was a friend to the department’s chaplain, Herb Pink, until he passed away, Capt. Lief Nicolaisen said.
Suttles organized a blood drive and raised more than $40,000 for a fellow officer’s 1-year-old son, who was diagnosed with cancer. The officer’s son is currently living cancer-free.
“I was just proud that I could help,” Suttles said.
In September, Allen began helping out a Glendale mother and three children. Police would often receive calls for one of the boys.
Allen made a point of frequently visiting — both during work and off duty — to make sure the mother was doing well and the children were going to school, Nicolaisen said. But the children were taken away from the mother after she lost her job and was unable to care for them.
Allen, who also has three children, continued to visit the children when they were staying at a foster home in Los Angeles and even brought them Christmas gifts.
Allen’s deeds personify what Glendale Police officers should be, Nicolaisen said.
But Allen said what he did for the family “wasn’t a big deal.”
The children were returned to their mother after she got a job and help from family members.
“They’re great kids,” Allen said.
Cisneros didn’t expect the award Friday, but, she said, she was grateful to receive it.
“Marilyn Cisneros is a cops’ cop,” fellow officer Patricia Larrigan said.
Cisneros has sent care packages to police deployed for military service, and keeps in contact with their families to make sure they are OK, Larrigan said.
She is a school resource officer at Glendale High School and often reaches out to the students, whether it is giving them money or disciplining them, Larrigan said.
Kiwanis member Daniel Torres was once disciplined by Cisneros when he was attending Hoover High School 15 years ago. She cited him for wearing improper clothes to school.
He was a straight-A student, but he didn’t like authorities telling him what to do, Torres said.
“She straightened me out at a very young age,” he said.
Torres now works for a law firm.
