Pictured: (Through the years): Sergeant Jason Tibbetts w/his kids, Rachael & Benjamin, & wife, Sierra. Tibbets retired today after 31 years of service at the Glendora Police Department.

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

You could arguably count on one hand the number of careers that directly enhance the prospects of a more safe and well-informed society.

And that includes the type of jobs that prepare young people for the future and going one-on-one with life’s toughest moments, and those who put their lives on the line for complete strangers.

My short list includes our military, firefighters, teachers and those in law enforcement.

They sacrifice everything in spite of being grossly underpaid.

For the last 31 years, Jason Tibbetts has dedicated his entire adult life to protecting and serving in the Glendora Police Department.

This afternoon at 3, Tibbetts signed off for the last time.

He was surrounded by friends, family, and members of the GPD, past and present.

How did it all start?

Tibbetts is a 1990 GHS graduate.

He was a two-way starter on the Tartans’ only (co)-championship football team in 1989.

Jason played one year at Citrus College, and had intended to join one of his best friends, the late-great Chris West, at Northern Arizona University.

But an injury ended Tibbetts’ football career, so his focus revolved around earning his Associate of Science degree in Administration of Justice.

Often times, young boys dream of a career in the military or that of a cop of firefighter.

That wasn’t necessarily the case for Tibbetts.

In June of 1991, his mom, Linda Tibbetts, showed her son a newspaper clipping that advertised the Glendora Police Department was looking to hire a cadet.

Shortly thereafter, Tibbetts went to the GPD and filled out an application.

Among a lengthy list of candidates, he was selected for the job.

He served many roles as a cadet between 1991 and 1997.

It all started by answering the switchboard for Glendora City Hall, and a few months later, Tibbetts worked in the detective bureau.

He learned how to process and log evidence.

As a cadet, Jason also rode along with GPD officers, helping them conduct search warrants, deliver subpoenas and coordinated witnesses for upcoming court cases.

One of his biggest surprises included the vast number of meth labs in the city of Glendora.

In 1997, Tibbetts’ life took a massive turn for the better.

He was hired fulltime at GPD, and he met his future wife, Sierra Behrens.

Tibbetts would get his training at the LA Sheriff’s STARS Center in Whittier.

At the graduation ceremony, the entire class of 500 or so got on one knee with Tibbetts as he asked Sierra to be his wife.

One year later, in November of 1998, Sierra Behrens would become Sierra Tibbetts.

They have two kids.

Rachael, 21, is in her senior year at Cal Poly SLO.

She is majoring in Psychology, and has intentions of becoming a therapist or a teacher.

Ben, a 2021 Los Osos High School graduate, and an all-league long snapper for the Grizzlies, attends Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.

What were the most difficult and challenging moments during Jason’s remarkable career?

In 1999, Tibbetts was diagnosed with cancer, but 23 years later, he remains a cancer survivor.

Jason suffered a massive loss in 2001, when his loving mother died of cancer on her 57th birthday.

Linda Tibbetts missed meeting Jason and Sierra’s first child by just three months.

In July of 2021, Bob Tibbetts passed away to cancer after moving into Jason and Sierra’s Rancho Cucamonga house for hospice care.

And in June of 1995 and October of 1996, Jason, the GPD and the city of Glendora lost a pair of heroes, Louie Pompei, and Tim Crowther, respectively.

But as Tibbetts knew as well as anyone, Louie and Tim would want and expect Jason and his brothers in arms to carry on for a city they loved.

Dan Crowther, the son of Tim Crowther, followed in his father’s footsteps and just this week, Crowther got promoted to Captain of the Arcadia Police Department.

“Jason is a hometown hero,” Crowther said. “From high school football player to Glendora PD Sergeant. Jason is a very humble, yet professional in his work within the community. He has been a member of Glendora and deserves their respect. Congrats to Jason on his retirement from the Crowther Family. Enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service to Glendora!”

I asked Tibbetts about the number of incidents we’ve seen on social media and television over the last several years where police officers disgrace their badge by taking things too far.

And some might expect him to be defensive about the topic.

Not Jason.

“There is no one more upset when police officers abuse their authority than those of us who follow the law and serve our communities with honor.”

What were some highlights in Tibbetts’ Career?

Not long after the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, security began to ramp up at schools throughout the United States.

Tibbetts served as Glendora High’s first resource officer from 2001-2004.

We reached out to former principal Dave Walesiak for his thoughts on Jason’s service at GHS.

“Jason set the bar very high as the first school resource officer at GHS,” Walesiak said. “He was a natural in that role.  His ability to work with students, staff, and parents was special.  Of course, having graduated as a Tartan made it a perfect fit.  We were always proud of Jason’s character and commitment to the community. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.”

Tibbetts served in a number of roles, including that of a crisis negotiator for 10 years, while ascending to the title of Sergeant Tibbetts.

But nothing made the now 50-year-old more satisfied or proud than doing everything he could to ensure life sentences without the possibility of parole for those pieces of s*** that injured, molested or raped members of our city, and especially those who preyed on the vulnerable, including our children and the elderly.

In a phone interview on Tuesday night, Tibbetts said there have been a number of times that he’s come home after processing a horrific crime scene, and just hugged his two children without saying a word.

When did he know it was time to call it a career?

Considering the fact that he’s only 50, I asked Tibbetts when he first thought about retiring.

“In the last year or so, I lost my dad, my uncle, (close friend) Kevin Kelly, and I had a detached retina that caused me to miss work,” he said. “It just felt like this was the right time to step away.”

As mentioned earlier, one of his best friends in life, Chris West, is no longer with us.

West had spoken on behalf of Tibbetts to the NAU football coach and things looked promising until a career-ending injury derailed Jason’s plans.

But we reached out to West’s father, Gary Elmer, on Jason’s role in their lives.

“Jason, Chris and Brad (Baiotto) were three friends that had a very special relationship as you know,” Elmer said. “When we moved to Glendora in 1985, Jason was the first person Chris met. Jason lived on the same street. They were best friends ever since. Jason always treated everyone the same, with respect and dignity. He is a very honest, likable and trustworthy person.”

What has made this life and career possible?

It’s one person, Sierra Behrens Tibbetts.

His wife of 24 years.

Sierra, 48, has been a teacher at Ramona Middle School in La Verne for nearly 20 years, but her top priority has always been Jason, Rachael and Ben.

“She’s been my rock,” Jason said. “This is as much her retirement as it is mine. She’s had to deal with me working holidays, getting called in the middle of the night and has had to sacrifice so much for my kids and my career. Sierra has had the most important impact on my life. She’s everything to me and she’s the best mom ever. Sierra is nurturing and caring and takes care of all of us.”

Jason’s parents, Bob and Linda Tibbetts, have also been invaluable and remain in the center of their son’s heart.

“I was so lucky to have loving parents who put everyone else first,” he said. “My dad lost his soulmate in 2001, but still did everything he could to impact my life as well as those of my wife and two children. When he got sick, he moved back to California and we took care of him for the final two years of his life. I miss both of them so much and I love them dearly.”

Tibbetts served under seven (Brad Posey, Paul Butler, Charles Montoya, Rob Castro, Tim Staab, Lisa Rosales and Matt Egan) Chiefs of Police over his 31-year career.

He said his brothers and sisters at the GPD are all part of his extended family, and that it’s been a privilege to help keep the city he was born and raised in safe.

And the 52,000 people who reside in this great city owe each of them a debt of gratitude.

But we’re especially proud of our homegrown hero, Sergeant Jason Tibbetts.

Tibbetts is already taking bass guitar lessons, and he hopes to become a voice-over actor.

For those of you in the 91741, if you felt some mist on Thursday afternoon, it’s not rain.

It’s Linda and Bob Tibbetts in Heaven shedding tears of joy for their baby boy, and for all he did to make Glendora a safer place to raise a family.

On behalf of all Tartans, past and present, and those who have resided in Glendora over the last three decades, thank you, Jason, and enjoy a well-deserved retirement.

To view a photo gallery of Jason and his family, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook

Directly below are some interviews with Jason’s family and friends.

And at the very bottom is an emotional ceremony where members of the GPD got to send Mr. Tibbetts off knowing how much he meant to them and the GPD.