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Austin Police Department honors employees with service milestones, promotions and retirements
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Summary
At a quarterly awards ceremony, the Austin Police Department recognized employees for five- to 30-year service milestones, announced multiple promotions across ranks and honored a list of retirees; Chief James Mason and Chief of Staff Robin Henderson presided over the event.
The Austin Police Department held a quarterly awards and recognition ceremony where leaders recognized employees for service milestones, announced promotions across sworn and civilian ranks and honored retiring staff.
Acting on behalf of Chief Joseph Davis, Chief James Mason opened the event and thanked families for their support, saying it was “a joyful occasion” to pause and recognize officers and staff. Chief of Staff Robin Henderson led logistical remarks and introduced speakers including Senior Chaplain Ken Farmer, who gave opening prayers and a remembrance for fallen officers.
The department presented service awards for multiple anniversary milestones. Among those named onstage: 20-year recognitions for Detective Frank Corpus and Officer Roger Aguilar; 25-year awards for Karen Fitzgerald, division manager for diversity, equity and inclusion, and victim-services counselor Melby Huerta; and 30-year acknowledgments for members of the 1986 cadet class including Lieutenant Jim Beck and Sergeant Billy Hurst. APD also called members of several cadet classes forward to receive group recognitions.
The department announced many civilian and sworn promotions. Civilian promotions included Aaliyah Davila (contract management specialist 1), Anjalay Armstrong (financial manager II), Jackie Huerta Vasquez (contract management specialist 2) and multiple promotions within Emergency Communications (ECOMS), including Michael Payne as assistant manager. Sworn promotions read aloud by presenters included lists of officers promoted to corporal/detective rank, sergeant, lieutenant and commander; the ceremony named individuals including Alejandro Lopez, Andrew Carroll, Adam Torres and James Alexander among others.
APD recognized units and individuals with special citations. The Edward 400s were named Patrol Unit of the Year and TAC Intel was named Non-Patrol Unit of the Year; the department invited attendees to a unit awards ceremony scheduled for Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. The next quarterly awards ceremony was announced for Nov. 19, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.
Retirements were highlighted toward the end of the program. The department read tributes for long-serving employees including 30-year lieutenant Jim Beck, Assistant Chief Jazette Gaslin Disher (retiring and taking the chief position at Austin Community College), and numerous civilian retirees such as April Arzola, a 911 call taker II referenced for 25 years of service.
The ceremony mixed formal recognitions with brief remarks from supervisors and commanders who read nominations and offered gratitude to honorees and their families. Organizers encouraged attendees to take photos and collect awards for personnel who were not present.
