Stephen Bowles has served 24 years on the Seal Beach Police Department, and during those years he has served as a police officer, sergeant, detective, internal affairs, public information, and training.
In July, Bowles received a call from President Reagan Romali about his hall of fame introduction and was very honored.
“Absolutely humbled by even the consideration, and even more humbled by the nomination let alone the induction,” Bowles said.
Bowles is an alumni of LBCC and obtained his Associates degree in liberal studies in 1988.
Bowles credits his time at LBCC as a helpful one for his transition from high school to college.
“I attribute all my success personal and successful life to my time at Long Beach City College,” Bowles said.
Bowles played an important role in the 2009 Salon Meritage mass shooting as he was one of the first responders on the scene.
Once Bowles figured out which victims were wounded and which ones were deceased he assumed the role as the public information officer.
“I handled all the media, all the interviews, and all the city representation as the remainder of that day and the next following weeks,” Bowles said.
As a result of his heroic act Bowles was the recipient of the Medal of Merit. Back in 2003, Bowles was diagnosed with stage II melanoma, which is a form of cancer.
As soon as Bowles was done with his treatment, him and a few other retired Long Beach police officers who were also former cancers survivors, formed the National Law Enforcement Cancer Support Foundation.
“When someone in the law enforcement profession gets diagnosed we match them with a mentor or cancer survivor that walks them through their cancer journey,” Bowles said.
Bowles also has obtained his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in sociology and obtained his master’s degree in counseling from the University of La Verne.
Bowles along with three other inductees will have their hall of induction account at The Grand Event Center in Long Beach today at 5:30 p.m.