Meet our Security Officers of the Year
Securitas North America annually recognizes one security officer for heroism and one for outstanding performance. The Security Officer of the Year recipients are chosen based on nominations from their colleagues and managers.
Andres Osorio and Ritesh Raj – Security Officers of the Year for Heroism
The Heroism award is presented to a security officer or, in this case, a team who performs an act that demonstrates courage, daring, professionalism and self-sacrifice while helping to protect people or property.
This year’s recipients, Securitas EMT Andres Osorio and Security Officer Ritesh Raj, are from the Pacific Region and work at Rossmoor, a retirement community in Walnut Creek, CA. While on patrol, they received a call from a resident saying her husband had fallen and needed help getting up off the floor. When they responded to the home for what they thought was a routine indoor noninjury lift assist, the realized it was much more.
Melville Smith – Security Officer of the Year for Performance
The award for Security Officer of the Year for Performance recognizes a security officer who consistently provides excellent service and demonstrates outstanding performance. This year’s recipient is Melville Smith from the Paragon Energy Sector. He has been with the company since April 2011 and is an 11-year veteran of the Zion Nuclear Power Station Security Organization independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). When describing Smith for the nomination, Shift Supervisor Andrew Adams wrote, “Mel Smith is the most reliable officer at the Zion ISFSI. One of the best attributes an employee can have is availability to help so that the security operational requirements are maintained, and no one takes it as seriously as Mel Smith.”
