With the oath of office administered by Escalon Police Chief Mike Borges, followed by the official badge pinning, Amanda Kyes was formally welcomed as the newest reserve officer for the Escalon Police Department on Monday night.

The badge pinning, handled by her mother, Sue, was done at the start of the July 15 Escalon City Council meeting.

Chief Borges provided a little background on the newest officer for the council and those attending the swearing in.

“She was out at Park Fete this past weekend so she got to experience that,” he said, noting that she had her first official day with the city earlier this month but they couldn’t schedule the pinning until the council session.

Kyes lives in Galt and attended Cosumnes River College and CSU Sacramento, where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in English.

“I expect her reports to be well written,” Borges quipped.

She also works as a special education teacher in the Galt school district and has also done duty as an EMT.

“We’ve got a real big catch,” the chief noted.

Several family members and friends were in attendance for the swearing in and badge pinning ceremony.

“I want to thank you again, chief, for this opportunity,” Kyes noted. “I’m truly blessed to have such a great support system and the Lord has really blessed me with this opportunity. I intend to take advantage of it.”

Borges said the department also has made some other changes, in addition to bringing on the new reserve officer, with former reservist Nathaniel Vieira being hired for a full-time position as part of the new city budget. He is currently working with his FTO, Field Training Officer, and Borges said they will be looking to fill another full-time slot later this year with the pending retirement of longtime officer David Armendariz.

The chief also said the weekend Park Fete event was relatively low key, with a couple of incidents but no major issues with those attending the festivities.