Rep. Mike Thompson honors two women as Public Safety Heroes of the Year

A Sonoma County law enforcement officer and a local paramedic were recently honored as Public Safety Heroes of the Year by North Coast Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

Sgt. Cecile Focha of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office and Christina Gossner of American Medical Response were recognized by Thompson at a Saturday ceremony in Vallejo. Thompson bestowed the honor to 10 law enforcement officers and first responders from the five counties - Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa and Lake - that constitute his congressional district.

Thompson said in a statement that Focha had demonstrated a “remarkable commitment to public service” over the last 18 years. A former spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office, she was also its first female detective sergeant and she supervised the domestic violence and sexual assault detective unit. Thompson also said she has “played an instrumental role” in the Sonoma County Family Justice Center's establishment and is president of the board of directors for Verity, the county's only rape crisis center, among other accomplishments.

Gossner, meanwhile, has worked with American Medical Response in the county since 1993, and has been an adjunct faculty member for the Santa Rosa Public Training Center, a volunteer firefighter with the Windsor Fire Protection District and a paramedic assigned to the Sheriff's Helicopter team.

Thompson said Gossner's work “exemplifies the best of our community.”