Location: Sheriff's Headquarters, 833 S. Akers St., Visalia
Incident Date: 7/24/19
Incident Time: 1030 hours
City: Visalia
Posted by: Media Relations
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux promoted three to the rank of Lieutenant and four to the rank of Sergeant during a formal ceremony on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. They are:
Lieutenant Gary Marks
Lieutenant Bobby Rader
Correctional Lieutenant Jason Villarreal
Sergeant Mark Frick
Sergeant Gregory Burns
Sergeant Jeff Miller
Sergeant Brandon Van Curen
Sheriff Boudreaux offers his sincere congratulations to Lt. Marks, Lt. Rader, Corr. Lt. Villarreal, Sgt. Frick, Sgt. Burns, Sgt. Miller and Sgt. Van Curen.
“I wish them well in their new assignments,” he said.
Lieutenant Gary Marks was raised in Bakersfield and graduated from Stockdale High School in 1994. Afterwards, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served four years in the Infantry. While serving his country, he met his wife, Amy, who was serving in the United States Navy at the same time.
After his service ended, Lieutenant Marks attended West Hills College, in Lemoore, and decided to pursue a career in law enforcement. He graduated the Tulare-Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1999 and was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
Lieutenant Marks was assigned to the Tulare County Correctional Center, also known as Road Camp. He worked in the jail facilities for three years and, in 2002, he was transferred to the Orosi Substation. While assigned there, he served as a Field Training officer and a Community Based Officer.
Later, he served in the Agricultural Crimes, North End Property Crimes and the Violent Crimes units.
In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was assigned to Headquarters Patrol. A year later, he was transferred to the Orosi Substation and, in 2017, he was transferred to Court Services while his wife obtained her Nurse Practitioners license.
In 2018, Lieutenant Marks was assigned to the Homicide unit.
He is married to his wife, Amy, and they have three children. He enjoys spending time with his family and going fishing.
Lieutenant Marks is now assigned to the Visalia Substation.
Lieutenant Bobby Rader was born and raised in Visalia. Before he began his career in law enforcement, he worked in farming and the construction trades.
In 2009, he graduated from the Tulare- Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy with honors and was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office that same year as a Deputy Sheriff.
His first assignment was Patrol out of the Orosi Substation.
In 2011, he transferred to the Sheriff’s Tactical Enforcement Personnel (S.T.E.P)/ SWAT Unit where he served as a Narcotics Detective and SWAT Operator. While in STEP, he became an element team leader. Also, Lieutenant Rader was an instructor in numerous disciplines including Less Lethal Weapons, Active Shooter Response Instructor, SWAT Range Master, Use of Force Expert, Aerial Observation and Helicopter Operations, SWAT Tactics, Narcotics Investigation training and mountain tactical operations.
In 2012, he received a Letter of Commendation for his actions during a shooting on the Reservation.
Lieutenant Rader was transferred to the Agricultural Crimes Unit in 2014 and he served on the Board of Directors of the California Rural Crime Prevention Task Force. He received a Letter of Commendation for his actions in a rural mountainous area of East Orosi after he planned and executed a surveillance detail over several months. This case led to multiple arrests and crime was reduced in that area by 90 percent.
In 2015, Lieutenant Rader was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was assigned to Headquarters Patrol. A year later, he was re-assigned back to STEP as the SWAT Sergeant in 2016. He was responsible for all SWAT operations as well as all narcotics-related investigations.
He was transferred to the Agricultural Crimes Unit as the Cattle Liaison Sergeant in 2017. There, he led the largest cattle theft and embezzlement case in Tulare County history.
In April 2017, Lieutenant Rader graduated from Union Institute & University with his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Management.
He was assigned as the Emergency Services Division Sergeant in 2018, which includes the Boating Safety Enforcement Unit (BSEU), Aviation Service Unit (ASU), Drone program, and Search and Rescue/ Swift Water and Dive Units.
Later in 2018, he was assigned as the Agricultural Crimes Sergeant.
Lieutenant Rader is married to his wife of eight years, Margaret, and they have two children. He enjoys spending time with his family, camping, hunting, and fishing.
Lieutenant Rader is now assigned to the Porterville Substation.
Correctional Lieutenant Jason Villarreal was born and raised in Orosi. He graduated from Orosi High School in 1991 and attended the College of Sequoias, earning his Associate’s Degree.
In 1996, Lieutenant Villarreal graduated the Tulare- Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy. He was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in 1998 as a Deputy Sheriff and was assigned to the Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
In 2001, he transferred to the Porterville Substation and was assigned to Patrol in the Terra Bella/Ducor area.
Lieutenant Villarreal returned to Detentions in 2002 and was assigned to the Men’s Correctional Facility where he became a Jail Training Deputy.
In 2006, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was assigned to the Bob Wiley Detention Facility. During this time, he served as the Detentions Armorer and was placed in charge of the Jail Training Program.
Lieutenant Villarreal was re-assigned to the Main Jail Facility as the Administrative Sergeant in 2013. During this time, he became a Supervisor of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT).
In 2015, Lieutenant Villarreal was again re-assigned to the Bob Wiley Detention Facility and became the Supervisor of the Strategic Response Unit (SRU).
He transferred to Main Jail in 2019 while still taking on the responsibility of both the SERT and SRU units.
Lieutenant Villarreal assists with the Sheriff’s CORE Academy which teaches the fundamentals of law enforcement as it applies to detentions personnel. He is a Recruit Training Officer, Master Taser Instructor and Less Lethal Instructor for Detentions.
Lieutenant Villarreal is married to his high school sweetheart, Chastity, and they have three children. He is a devoted father and grandfather and loves spending time with his family.
Lieutenant Villarreal is now assigned to the Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
Sergeant Mark Frick served in the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman, Instructor and Drill Sergeant. He was stationed in Alabama, Washington, Johnston Atoll, Kansas and Germany and earned Army Achievement Medals, Army Commendation Medals and the Army Meritorious Service Medal.
In 1995, Sergeant Frick was hired by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and worked at the High Security Prison in Florence, Colo. He left that position a year later to assist with his family business in Three Rivers.
At this time, he completed his Associate’s Degree at College of the Sequoias.
Beginning in 1999, he worked as a Juvenile Correctional Officer and a Probation Officer for the Tulare County Probation Department.
Next, he graduated from the Tulare-Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy and was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in 2004. He worked at the Main Jail and the Bob Wiley Detention Facility.
In 2005, Sergeant Frick was hired by the Exeter Police Department and testified in multiple cases as a Gang Expert. He moved to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) in 2010 and worked under then Sheriff’s Sergeant John Gonzalez who is now a Captain.
While in INET, Sergeant Frick completed SWAT School, Narcotics Investigation School, Asset Forfeiture training and trained with TCSO STEP and the Exeter/Farmersville SWAT Team.
In 2014, Sergeant Frick was rehired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and was assigned to Headquarters Patrol. Soon after that, he became the Resident Deputy for Three Rivers. In 2018, Sergeant Frick was transferred to Tulare Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team (TAGNET) Narcotics.
He is a resident of Three Rivers and is married to his wife, Jocelynn. They have five grown children, a 10-year-old son and six grandchildren.
Sergeant Frick enjoys spending time with his family and serving in his Church. He loves swimming and just recently passed the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists (IADRS) Swim Test and was certified as a Swift Water Rescue Technician. He is now a member of the Sheriff’s Swiftwater Dive Rescue Team.
Sergeant Frick is now assigned to Courts.
Sergeant Greg Burns was born and raised in Coalinga. While attending Coalinga High School, he obtained his pilot’s license at the age of 17. Later, he earned his Associate’s Degree from West Hills College in 1980.
Before going into law enforcement, he had a career as a computer programmer for an accounting firm while going to school at College of the Sequoias. He married in 1983 and he and his wife owned and operated a residential care facility for the developmentally disabled.
After completing the Reserve Police Academy at COS, Sergeant Burns went to work for the Farmersville Police Department in 1996. While working there, he graduated from the Tulare/Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy where he was recognized for being top in his class for Firearms and Report Writing.
In 1998, Sergeant Burns was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and worked at Main Jail, Road Camp and the Bob Wiley Detention Facility. He also served as a Jail Training Officer prior to his transfer to Patrol.
Sergeant Burns was transferred to Headquarters Patrol in 2005. Two years later, he was assigned as a Field Training Officer for more than eight years before being re-assigned to the North-End Property Crimes Unit. In 2017, Sergeant Burns was assigned to the Violent Crimes/Homicide Unit.
Sergeant Burns is a resident of Visalia and has two adult children and two granddaughters.
He enjoys racing in almost all venues of motor sports from cars, ATV’s, to Motorcycles and, in 1992, he competed in the Budweiser National Jet-Ski Tour and finished 9th in the world at the World Jet-Ski Invitational.
Sergeant Burns enjoys attending church, camping, off-roading, snow skiing and spending quality time with his children and granddaughters.
Sergeant Burns is now assigned to the Visalia Substation.
Sergeant Jeff Miller attended Dinuba High School and then enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as a Military Police Office and K-9 handler. After his military service, he enrolled at Reedley College and then transferred to Fresno State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Marketing.
After graduation from college, Lieutenant Miller entered into the family automotive businesses in Dinuba and Reedley where he worked for 15 years. While attending college and working at his business, he also became a Level One Police Reserve Officer at the Reedley Police Department.
Sergeant Miller also worked as a Reserve Deputy at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. In total, he worked as a non-paid reserve officer for 18 years.
He graduated from the Tulare-Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy and was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department in 2007. His first assignment in patrol at the Pixley Substation.
In 2010, Sergeant Miller was transferred to the Orosi Substation where he was a Field Training Officer, Community Based Officer and filled in as a School Resource Officer. He also served as a Firearms Instructor and Force Options Simulator Instructor.
In 2016, he was transferred to the Juvenile Crimes Unit/Special Victim’s Unit in 2016 and to the Human Trafficking Unit in 2019.
Sergeant Miller lives in Dinuba with his wife of 25 years, Tricia, and they have two children. While he has a passion for hunting and fishing, he said his family is his greatest gift and the joy of his life.
Sergeant Miller is now assigned to the Pixley Substation.
Sergeant Brandon Van Curen graduated from Richmond High school in 2000 and moved to the Central Valley in 2002. He graduated from the Tulare-Kings Counties Law Enforcement Training Academy in 2008.
Upon graduation, he was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and was assigned to Headquarters Patrol as a Deputy Sheriff. While working there, he was recognized as Officer of the Year by the Farmersville/Exeter chapter of the Knights of Columbus.
In 2011, Sergeant Van Curen was assigned to the Sheriff’s Tactical Enforcement Personnel (STEP Unit)/SWAT. During his tenure in STEP, he became a Marijuana Cultivation & Narcotics Sales Expert, an Asset Forfeiture Investigator, SWAT Team Element Leader, Chemical Agent Instructor, Distraction Device Instructor and an Active Shooter Training Instructor.
He participated in several large-scale narcotics/gang take down operations. Sergeant Van Curen received Letters of Commendation for his part in a 2012 hostage rescue and for the apprehension of suspects during an in-progress burglary while assisting mutual aid during the 2015 wildfires in San Andreas, in Calaveras County.
In 2015, Sergeant Van Curen was transferred to the Violent Crimes Unit.
Sergeant Van Curen enjoys spending time with his family and attending his children’s sporting events, competitions and choir performances.
Sergeant Van Curen is now assigned to Courts.