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Eduardo Acosta began his law enforcement career with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1997.
He has worked custody at the Pitchess Detention Center and the Inmate Reception Center. He also worked patrol at Century Station in Lynwood.
In 2007, Eduardo later transferred to the South Pasadena Police Department. He worked patrol, detectives, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and the West San Gabriel Anti-Crime Task Force.
The participating agencies in the task force were Pasadena PD, Arcadia PD, Monrovia PD, El Monte PD, Monterey Park PD, Parole Department and South Pasadena PD.
In 2015, Eduardo later transferred to the Pasadena Police Department. There he has worked patrol and the Homeless Outreach Psychiatric Evaluation Team (HOPE). The HOPE Team is partnered with a clinician from the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
The HOPE Team responds to individuals dealing with a mental health crisis and conduct mental health evaluations.
The HOPE Team also conducts outreach services for individuals dealing with homelessness. Eduardo enjoys working out, running, and mountain bike riding in the San Gabriel Valley Foothills.
Instagram: @pasadenapd
Eduardo started his career initially with the sheriff’s department and eventually got hired in South Pasadena.
So, between Pasadena and South Pasadena, Eduardo has been serving the community for about 18 years.
Eduardo grew up in Los Angeles. It was actually Eduardo’s uncle that got him involved in the law enforcement career.
He encouraged Eduardo to test in, and he went through Whittier’s Sheriff Academy and did some patrol and custody time there.
To be honest, Eduardo did not think about this career growing up.
He went to college and was just going through life growing up. Even when his uncle told him about the position, he wasn’t sure that he was going to like it.
However, once he applied and got in, he quickly fell in love with his career choice.
For Eduardo, it was a very new and unexpected journey. He had no idea what the process was going to be like. But, once he started training and saw the work ethic of everyone there, he knew it was a great fit for him.
Eduardo considers South Pasadena almost as a family – as it is a very small community.
For him, you can drive down the street and know all of the neighbors and be able to identify who is driving through to work or out and about with their family.
It is a tight knit community, and Eduardo loves the environment.
Pasadena is a much larger city. It reminds Eduardo of his time in Los Angeles. It is just a bigger, faster-paced city with more going on.
Eduardo started out on patrol and then was assigned to the West San Gabriel anti-crime task force.
He often went after burglars or whatever issues were happening in the city.
Eduardo Acosta liked it; it was actually on his bucket list. He enjoyed the training. If you couldn’t tell, Eduardo is pretty big on training and enjoys the process.
Fun fact: Eduardo’s team was actually the first SWAT team in Pasadena’s history.
Aside from weapons and tactics, Eduardo learned CPR, de-escalation methods, and medical assistance training during his time in SWAT.
A HOPE officer is part of the Homeless Outreach Psychological Evaluation team. Essentially, they are first responders and work with the County Department of Mental Health.
The individual from the County Department of Mental Health rides along with the HOPE officers and may offer psychological evaluation.
Currently, there are three officers on the HOPE team in LA County.
Eduardo was asked by one of the former team members because she was rotating out of it. Eduardo asked a couple of questions about how the team was run and he was instantly interested in it.
There are a lot of different teams and organizations that HOPE works with to ensure as many people are receiving the help they need as possible.
There are certain rules that a homeless individual must follow to receive help in Pasadena, but if they need help, HOPE is 100% on board with whatever they need – including housing.
There is general training that Eduardo took, but there are additional classes he claims you can take that cover autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and more.
It is incredibly serious because it could affect anyone. Whether you’re incredibly successful, have a great support system, or have all the money in the world – it doesn’t mean that you can’t suffer from mental illness or have suicidal thoughts.
My 1st recommended place in SGV
My 2nd place recommendation of SGV
My 3rd place recommendation of SGV
