[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 9516-9517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  IN TRIBUTE TO DETECTIVE JAY CARROTT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 16, 2011

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in tribute to Jay Carrott, whose 
retirement from the Simi Valley Police Department is being recognized 
this weekend.
  Detective Carrott actually retired from the Police Department last 
year, but was immediately deployed to Iraq as a police advisor to an 
Army unit out of Fort Benning, Georgia, giving his fellow officers, 
family and friends no time to honor his service to the community. Jay 
is a personal friend who I have known for many years. He is home now 
and it is time to give him his long overdue accolades.
  Jay Carrott became a reserve officer for the city in 1985 and was 
hired as a full-time officer in 1987. He rose to the rank of Senior 
Officer before leaving for a short stint with the Lacey, Washington, 
Police Department. He returned to the Simi Valley Police Department in 
1995 and was promoted to Detective the following year.
  It was as a Detective that Jay Carrott's skills, dedication and 
passion for law enforcement and the victims of violent acts came to 
full fruition.
  In describing and praising his partner, Greg Gonzales, in 2008, 
Carrott told the local media that a good homicide detective must be 
intensely curious, care deeply about others and pay great attention to 
detail. Those certainly are qualities Carrott brought to the job.
  Those qualities led to a nearly 90 percent case closure rate. But 
Carrott didn't just pursue criminals and bring them to justice. Along

[[Page 9517]]

the way, he brought empathy to the victims and victims' families, as 
well.
  When Detective Carrott was awarded the Investigative Excellence Award 
for Cumulative Investigative Excellence in 2009 from the California 
Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training's Robert Presley 
Institute of Criminal Investigation, officials said in a statement: 
``He believes an investigator's job is not only to seek out the truth, 
but also to ensure that families touched by violence have a voice.''
  Jay's dedication to the truth and the law are legendary. When a local 
community service organization refused to rescind the rental of its 
facility to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, Jay quit the 
organization, saying his police badge meant more to him than membership 
in the club.
  But perhaps the best praise to Jay's dedication comes from his 
daughter, Erin, who wrote this in 2007 as part of a school assignment 
after Detective Carrott was awarded the City of Simi Valley's 
Meritorious Service Award:
  ``Weeks with no sleep, calls in the middle of the night, having to 
travel to places to search for things you aren't even sure exist, and 
criminals who get away with it this is what my father faces on a daily 
basis.''
  Jay was also a member of the Department's SWAT Team, a Range Master, 
and a member of the SES--Special Enforcement Section. Among the other 
awards he earned was SVPD Officer of the Year in 1991 and the SVPD 
Chiefs Award in 1998. Jay also taught at Moorpark College, where he 
earned an associate's degree before earning a bachelor's in business 
from University of Redlands.
  Aside from Erin, Jay and his wife, Amy, raised two sons, Joshua and 
Joseph, and have a grandson, Taylor.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues join me in thanking Detective Jay 
Carrott for his service to his community and country, and for his 
dedication to and passion for enforcing our laws, and wish him and Amy 
a long and happy retirement.

                          ____________________