Maricopa Optimists honor PCSO deputy

The Optimist Club of Maricopa presented its Respect for Law Award on Monday to Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Zach Mauzy.

Officials from PCSO’s Region One, which covers the Casa Grande, Eloy, Picacho, Red Rock, Arizona City, Stanfield, Hidden Valley and Maricopa areas, chose Deputy Mauzy to represent PCSO and accept the award “because of his sincere dedication to our profession and the communities we serve,” said PCSO Sgt. Jason Agresta.

“He consistently goes above and beyond his required duties to ensure all of his calls for service are thoroughly completed, and the public is safe from criminals and evildoers alike,” Sgt. Agresta continued. “Deputy Mauzy accomplishes this through proactive patrol methods and a resource base of valued contacts within various law enforcement agencies.”

Some such agencies are the Maricopa Police Department, Border Patrol, the Department of Public Safety, and the Ak-Chin and Gila River Police Departments. Deputy Mauzy has specialty training in the areas of traffic enforcement and crime prevention, narcotics identification and detection and human smuggling crimes.

In March Deputy Mauzy was one of a select group of law enforcement personnel to attend the Federal Government’s training program on illegal alien smuggling, called 287(g) Certification. He is currently working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on a major smuggling case in the Hidden Valley area of Maricopa.

Since the beginning of his career, nearly four years ago, Deputy Mauzy has chosen to work in Maricopa and the surrounding communities.

“He is always willing to put in extra hours to ensure each of his cases are properly and thoroughly investigated,” Sgt. Agresta said, adding that he routinely volunteers for special events and assignments in and around the Maricopa area.

“Mauzy’s caring and professional demeanor is genuine,” Sgt. Agresta said. “His work ethic and integrity is well respected by the public and his peers.”

Photo submitted by Pinal County