July Officer of the Month

Aug 13th, 2008

Working closely with citizens, Mobile’s Officer of the Month uncovered a working meth lab operation deep inside a wooded area, arrested a couple boys on a burglary binge and finessed a large underage drinking bust. In all, the 28-year-old officer made 16 felony and 30 misdemeanor arrests and 10 boom box arrests during the month.

Joseph Ziebach, a Fifth Precinct Officer, will be honored for his work at the Officer of the Month luncheon set for noon Tuesday, August 12, at the Knights of Columbus building, 3051 Pleasant Valley Road. The luncheon is sponsored by the Midtown Optimist Club.

Citizens alerted police to unusual foot traffic in a large wooded area near Schillinger Road July 30, setting Ziebach on a hunt that yielded a methamphetamine lab. Ziebach ventured deep into the woods in the black of night, when he heard voices and discovered a male and female at work, wearing head-fastened LED lights as they produced methamphetamine. The male arrested in the incident had previously been convicted on a federal charge of manufacturing methamphetamine and was on parole for that incident.

On July 17, Ziebach interrupted another criminal operation when he chased two prowlers who turned out to be juvenile boys armed with stolen firearms. They have been linked to multiple residential burglaries, six vehicle burglaries and numerous incidents of vehicle vandalism.

A whole neighborhood took notice of Ziebach’s work on July 17, when he was dispatched to the area on a noise complaint. Noticing a large underage drinking party, he brought in backup and was able to round up 11 people for underage drinking.

“Officer Ziebach leads the squad in every category,” said police Lt. Tommy Menton. “He does not wait for calls to come to him; instead he goes in search of lawlessness…”

Ziebach is married and has one child. He joined the department in 2005.