Behind the Badge
The future of law enforcement is dedicated, energetic and inspirational. And it’s personified by Beverly Hills PD Det. Audra Alatorre.
Alatorre on Tuesday received the California Peace Officers’ Association’s “12 under 12” Award, which recognizes an officer from each of CPOA’s 12 regions who have 12 or fewer years of service and who “exemplify the future of the law enforcement profession.”
The 2019 Advance CPOA Conference recognized Detective Audra Alatorre for the 12 Under 12 award category. This new award category is designed to recognize 12 individuals (one from each of CPOA’s 12 regions) with 12 or less years of service that exemplify the future of the law enforcement profession.
Award recipients gathered at the Long Beach Convention Center for a luncheon with officials of CPOA and members of their department and families. In Alatorre’s case, members of the department areher family. A second-generation Beverly Hills police officer, Alatorre maintains the 25-year legacy of exemplary policing of her father, retired Det. Hector Alatorre.
“I am very grateful to have grown up in a family that taught me the value of giving back to the community from a very young age,” she said. “I am so thankful for all the support I have received from them, as well as from all my partners at Beverly Hills PD. I am truly humbled to be recognized this way.”
In nominating Alatorre, Sgt. Eugene Kim wrote, “Det. Alatorre embodies the values and commitment to the law enforcement field that are necessary in today’s climate. She has developed herself into an inspirational role model who has earned her reputation among her peers.”
Detective Audra Alatorre comes from a law enforcement family. Pictured left to right are her father BHPD Retired Det. Hector Alatorre, her sister Officer Tracy Hale, her cousin Officer Ricky Alatorre, Detective Audra Alatorre, her uncle retired LAPD Helicopter Pilot Rick Alatorre and her cousin Officer Derrick Alatorre.
Kim said that Alatorre is as dedicated to volunteer work as she is to policing, helming the department’s annual “meet and greet” program with students at the Banneker Special Education Center. She has also been participating in the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run and Tip-A-Cop programs since her days as a cadet, and she now leads those programs for BHPD. She has also put a team of first responders together for the Run to Remember half marathon, a run dedicated to remembering first responders and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their community.
Det. Audra Alatorre with her father, her father Det. Hectore Allatore who spent his career as a Beverly Hills Police Detective, retiring after twenty-five years of service.
In addition, Alatorre serves as an advisor to the Police Explorer program, “where she molds her explorers to be the great future law enforcement Officers,” Kim said.
Alatorre began her law enforcement career as an 18-year-old police cadet with Chino PD. She moved up the ranks, becoming a police service officer with Chino PD before becoming a deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2007.
In 2004, when Det. Hector Alatorre was diagnosed with lymphoma, his daughter watched as her father’s police department rallied around him.
Detective Audra Alatorre began her law enforcement career at the age of eighteen as a Police Cadet with the Chino Police Department. Here she is pictured with her father, BHPD Retired Det. Hectore Alatorre.
“This was very formative for her and it ignited a passion inside her to raise money for cancer victims and their families,” Sgt. Kim wrote. “Her father was a Baker to Vegasteam captain, so she too began running just like he did before his lymphoma diagnosis. After intensive treatment, her father beat lymphoma and continued on to retire from the department. The entire event gave her a front-row seat to how law enforcement comes together in a time of crisis.”
Six years later, Det. Audra Alatorre joined the Beverly Hills PD, where colleagues say, she carries on her father’s legacy. Beginning in patrol, Alatorre worked her way up to the Detective Bureau where she works the crimes against person’s detail, just like her father.
Det. Audra Alatorre participated in the Run to Remember First Responder Challenge 2019 with Officer Perez, Officer Givens, LT Trejo and Officer Drummond.
Just as her father set an example for her, Alatorre serves as a role model for others in her department, particularly as a mentor for new women officers.
“Because of her credibility and experience, she is someone that they can turn to and trust,” Kim said. “Terms like, ‘inspiration,role model, mentor’ are common phrases when new patrol officers talk about their interactions with Det. Alatorre.”
Alatorre said giving back comes naturally. Clearly, it’s in her blood.
“I do what I do because I enjoy helping others,” she said. “Receiving this award was very unexpected and humbling.”
