Nearly 4 years now and there’s not a single day that I’m not reminded of you in someway. Mostly in the form of protective owls. 🥹 Always thinking of you and your powerful impact on my life. 

"I see you tomorrow !! You promise,  yes my pollo I promise " our special words!

For me,  the goal was to graduate from the academy and get a job in law enforcement. I ended up getting something extra. I met Elmer Cruz, Jeremy Green and Esteban Aispero. We all never met, but our personalities clicked. We were close during the academy, and we all remained close friends afterwards. 

I commuted from San Mateo to Stockton just to attend our academy. I would always get there between 3:00-3:30pm when classes started at 5 (or 5:30?) . I left early because traffic in the Bay Area is terrible and you never know what could happen. Elmer didn't have to do this, but he always came early and met up with me.  He did this EVERY DAY. Elmer said that we were, "The Early Birds." We studied, worked on defensive tactics, and talked. We talked a lot about the academy, cars and our personal lives. 

Elmer was always looking out for his friends. I remember I was having a hard time trying to find hand gun ammo in the Bay Area. He told me where to go in Tracy to buy some and he even managed to pick up ear/eye protection for me at Walmart. I didn't even ask him to do that,  he just did it.  I was struggling with handgun shooting and Elmer invited me to his place and we spent the day at the range.

Elmer was a solid friend, a friend that I will miss. It's devastating that we lost him so young, but I know he will continue to look out for us, like he always has. 

July 2018 i checked in with Elmer to see how he was doing and if he needed anything. He was so humble and said no. Then I asked him what his favorite food was to which he replied: lasagna. I told him it was my specialty! At least a family favorite then asked if I could make one for him. He agreed. 

When I delivered it he was having a good day, and was very appreciative. I am so blessed to have known him even for such a short time. A polite, respectful, and kind young soul. The world needs more Elmer’s. 

So Elmer, Brandon, Esteban and I met at the academy and remained friends ever since.  It’s hard to say just one great memory so I’ll just say this.  Elmer was one of the first guys I met at the academy and I gotta say he left a strong impression.  He was very kind to everyone and showed a strong will to become a police officer even when he felt like he was struggling. See, Elmer worried a lot haha.  He would tell us,  “Guys I really bombed this test” then we would look at the scores and he would be in the top 5. This continued through the academy and we just started laughing and poked fun a little.  And yes this continued to Esteban’s wedding about five years later.  Elmer was sick with this horrible illness that took him from us.  He was worried about messing up his job of using the money shooter during the money dance.  Of coarse we weren’t going to let the Illness stop us from giving him a hard time. When it came time for the money dance, of coarse he did a great job.  He had a big smile on his face.  Probably one of the last times I saw him so happy.  Elmer’s agency was lucky to have him. I can tell his agency loved him as I have had the chance to meet some of you and can see you truly care.  And he told me the Emu story.  I still laugh every time I think about it.  Someone please pull up the taser video.

Doing what we did best together... play video games. I used to love going to his house as kids. He would share all his toys with me  and let me play all his video games. Every time it was time for me to go, he would cry and cry and we always made fun of him cause his ears would turn bright red. 

I was his boss, the “big cousin” and even after becoming a police officer and towering over me, he will always be still THIS kid. The little cousin who looks at you with admiration and love. 

He supported everything I shared with him and always encouraged and shared my excited regarding my crazy ideas. I am so proud of him and I always made sure that he knew his family adored him and that we are all so proud of him. Now it’s my turn to cry for his departure. 

I remember being sick during academy and you always brought me Tylenol or random Salvadorian medicine that always did the trick. You always pushed me to be a better me, and told me that I could do anything I wanted. You  told me to never give up! You always told me how your moms popusas were the best! You also told me about that EMU that you encountered! I will miss you Elmer! Thank you for always giving me the best advice.  Thank you for always being there for me when I needed to speak to someone. We will meet again someday 💙

Yosemite 2016, making fun of the girls on the trip who had to pose for every photo. So here we mimic them. 

A young man was walking through Escalon in the middle of the night while Elmer was on duty, so Elmer approached him to see if everything was ok. The gentleman had been walking from Stockton and was trying to get to Riverbank. He was extremely thirsty, hungry, and tired. Elmer took him to the store and bought him supplies to hydrate and nourish himself, and then drove the man to his destination. It was such a humble act of kindness. I remember Elmer beaming with gratitude for what was such a minor task to him, but such a powerful difference to a stranger. Behind the checkered vans beanie and his loafers, Elmer hid the largest heart of gold. I’ve never met anyone else who wanted so badly to fix the bad in the world and make people happy, while also pretending to be so cold and uninterested. It was such an honor getting to know such a rare soul. A true hero. 

So I remember one day at the pd it was a weekend Saturday specifically and we were gonna grill. This is something we tend to do on weekend days when it’s not too hot, I call it family dinner. It was Elmer, Curtis and myself and we decided to make tacos. Curtis went to the Mercado and got some asada and peppers and onions we were gonna feast. Curtis got back with the goods and I told Elmer go light the grill, he looked at me dumbfounded and said I don’t known how. I told him come on grasshopper I’ll teach you. So Curtis sat dispatch while it took Elmer to light the grill. As I was showing him how to turn on the gas he said “I’m going to suck as a dad I can’t even light a grill!” I told him don’t worry you’re learning now and will be a great dad. I will never forget how eager he was to learn and how caring he was. You’ll be missed Elmer!

Elmer talked about the wild Emu for days. He  was very excited and said it was huge and it almost killed him with it’s sharp beak. He said the monster got away but not before he almost tased it.  Elmer really believed that tasing the giant bird would have given him the chance he needed to catch it. So of course this was posted in the PD to remind him of his adventure. 

One day a few years back Elmer called are public work on call personal out. The reason for the call was to assist on the capture of wild animal. When PW arrived on scene all that was noticed was Officer Cruz running back and forth yelling "STOP". When he noticed we are scene he yelled "this thing is wild and he is enjoy this habitat way to much." After some time, Elmer was able to trap the wild animal in a back yard of a home. Elmer then pulled his patrol car in front of a hole in the fence in efforts to keep it in the back yard. Once he had it trapped he radioed our on call guy and said " Hey, this thing is looking right at me." Our PW on call said ok you scaredy cat, I will be right there. When we got there we noticed that the wild animal started to charge at Elmer. So Elmer jumps out of the way and draws his taser in efforts to hit it as it is jumping over the patrol car. Well,  he missed and the wild animal was on the loose again. After some time the wild animal was captured and returned to its owner. By the way, the wild animal was a big Emo. We have never let him forget the he was scared of an Emo and missed the huge bird jumping over his patrol car. 
Elmer was an absolute fun, intergenic, respectful individual. They way he worked with us and the way he keep our community safe will always be missed. Rest in peace our friend until we meet again.  
With love and heavy hearts,
Escalon Public works

OBITUARY

Elmer Palacios Cruz

June 20, 1992 – August 20, 2019

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