In a momentous ceremony held on Monday, the Turlock Police department promoted Gina Giovacchini to the rank of detective, marking a significant milestone as she became the first woman to take the oath and be assigned to the unit on a permanent basis.

The department has had other women serve as detectives over the years, including Giovacchini, but all were on a rotational basis.

“It feels really good,” said Giovacchini. “This has been my ultimate career goal so to get to achieve this goal is great.”

Already there are a pile of cases on Giovacchini’s desk but the growing workload doesn’t faze her at all.

“I love working a case from start to end and getting to bond with that victim and helping them,” she said.

“Gina’s enthusiasm towards police work and detective work is second to none,” said Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden. “She did a tremendous job during the testing process and we are proud to have her as a permanent detective.”

Giovacchini earned her bachelor’s degree in criminology with an option in victimology from California State University, Fresno in 2002. But her interest in becoming a police detective started long before that.

“As a kid I would watch all the crime shows and I was always interested in the detectives and how they worked,” Giovacchini said.

Her first position in law enforcement was in 2005 in Yolo County, where she worked at the county jail. She proved herself to be a worthy candidate and the agency sponsored her through the police academy.

Giovacchini started at the Turlock Police Department in September 2008 at the first level of a police officer. In March 2010, she was promoted to Police Officer II. In her years with the Turlock Police Department she has been a field training officer, a police explorer advisor, a neighborhood resource officer, restorative policing and in the hostage and negotiations team.

Serving as an advisor for the police explorer program was particularly meaningful for Giovacchini because she knew firsthand how it can be a complex undertaking just to learn about a career in law enforcement.

“I didn’t have any family in law enforcement and it is one of those careers that it helps to know certain aspects when interviewing,” Giovacchini said. “When I was at Fresno, I would do ride-alongs so that I could get some of that guidance.”

Giovacchini got her first experience in detective work during a rotational assignment at the department.

“I got a taste of it during that rotational assignment and from then on I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do,” she said.

In January of this year Giovacchini led an operation that partnered with the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to catch those using the internet to prey on minors. The Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is comprised of detectives investigating crimes involving child exploitation on the internet, and pursue those involved with manufacturing and distributing child pornography.

The mission of the operation with the Turlock Police Department was to catch predators who were seeking to meet with underaged children for the purpose of sexual activity. In the operation, law enforcement, under the guise of being minors, went into established online chat rooms, like those associated with multiplayer video games, social media platforms, chat apps, among others and waited to see who would strike up a conversation with them and for what purpose.

The operation took months of planning and was carried out over the course of two days — Jan. 5 and 6 — and saw 17 men reach out to the “children” with the purpose of some sort of sexual activity. Twelve of the arrestees were local, while the remaining five were out of county residents.

The operation earned Giovacchini a commendation from the department earlier this year.

Giovacchini has organized similar operations since then and will continue to investigate cyber tips for the department in addition to her other case assignments.

Giovacchini, along with Jason Tosta and Tim Redd (both now retired), were awarded the Medal of Meritorious Service for their actions that helped save the life of Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Caleb Collins, who was critically injured in a traffic collision on June 25, 2020.

The three were all headed separately to the police department to start their shift when they saw a vehicle make an illegal turn and strike Collins, who was on a motorcycle and working traffic duty at the time. The three provided emergency medical aid to the deputy, all while exposed to the heavy morning commuter traffic. The paramedic from American Medical Response said the actions of the detectives saved the deputy’s life.