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The training room at the Buchanan County Law Enforcement Center was the scene of this year’s annual awards of the St. Joseph Police Department. This event is held each year during Employee Recognition Week, and includes service awards for service to the city, along with special recognition awards to citizens and department members from the St. Joseph Police Department.

One of the first awards presented was to Lisa Little (pictured at right) of Bank Midwest. She developed a “Fraud Alert Email System” to help deter crimes committed against financial institutions. Recently, during our string of bank robberies, Lisa used the alert system to notify those on the email system that a robbery had occurred and would get description information out to other institutions within minutes of the crime. This has proven to be a valuable tool in crime prevention and information sharing. The Police Department is proud to present Lisa with the Citizens Distinguished Service Commendation.

An exceptional duty award was presented to Officers B.J. Fisher and Jason Wilhoit (pictured at right). On August 5, 2008, in the area of 22nd and Jules Streets, these two officers took charge of a potentially deadly call of shots fired. They controlled the scene and directed other officers, as they arrived on scene, to assist in setting up a perimeter and protecting everyone involved. Due to their diligence in getting the perimeter set up, what turned out to be a robbery attempt, was thwarted and all suspects were arrested and later convicted of their crimes. They received the exceptional duty award for their commitment on that call.

A Life Saving Award was presented to Officer Jeff Pearl. On December 17, 2008, in the area of the 1300 block of south 24th Street, Officer Pearl responded with another officer on an attempted suicide. Officer Pearl performed CPR on the individual and was able to resuscitate him. Officer Pearl will receive the Life Saving Award.

Officer Brad Kerns (pictured at right) received a Life Saving Award for his actions on January 2, 2009, in the area of 1328 N. Belt Hwy, officers responded to the area, in reference, to an unresponsive man. Officer Kerns found a woman giving chest compressions to a man. Officer Kerns took over for the woman and continued the life saving efforts while paramedics began to assess the male’s situation.

Officer Josh Howery received a Life Saving Award for his actions on April 1, 2009, in the 1100 block of 5th Avenue. Upon his arrival, he located a subject hanging from the rafters of his garage. Officer Howery single handedly lifted the subject, cut the cord, and placed the subject on the floor where he managed to open the individual’s airway, allowing him to breathe again.

A Life Saving Award was given to Officer Patrick Zeamer (pictured at right) for his actions on April 13, 2009, in the area of 19th and Commercial Streets, at the scene of an injury accident. Officer Zeamer gave CPR to a child accident victim who was not breathing and managed to resuscitate the child.

A plaque was presented to Officer Becky Bradley (pictured below right) and her K-9 partner Jimmy for 10 years of dedicated service to the St. Joseph Police Department and the community for which it serves. Jimmy retired on August 1, 2009. The other members of the K-9 unit presented Becky with a special plaque for her service to the K-9 unit and to thank her for her service.

The following officers and civilian employees were honored for their service to the citizens of St. Joseph. Those receiving 10 year awards were: Robert “Shane” Luikart, David Hart, Shawn Green, Kenneth Schroeder, Douglas Loehner, Devin Kallauner, Denise Blakley-Polk, Denise Pollock, Pamela Jaramillo, and Buck Robertson; 15 years: Janice Rothganger, Rebecca Bradley, Richard Eaton, Genevieve “Genny” Norton, and Jill Gordon-Murphy; 20 years: Christopher Black, Richard Ketchem, Rebecca Pulley, and Tana “Tabby” McClanahan; 30 years: James Connors, and 35 years: Timothy Walden.

This past Wednesday evening, Senior Operator Dawn Kneib (pictured at right) of the St. Joseph Police Department Communications Center was recognized as the Telecommunicator of the Year at a Missouri Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (MOAPCO) conference in Jefferson City Missouri. Nominations were received from throughout the state for this extremely prestigious award. MOAPCO presented the award to the nominee that demonstrated the highest degree of professionalism, pride, and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. Dawn’s daily performance in the Communications Center made her a perfect nominee and a great representative for the State as the 2009 Telecommunicator of the year.

Dawn Kneib has served as an operator in the St. Joseph Communications Center for the past nine years. Just this past year, Dawn was promoted to the position of Senior Communications Operator and she currently supervises the evening shift.

SJPD Receives CALEA Flagship Recognition Award

The St. Joseph Police Department received the CALEA Flagship Recognition Award on December 7, 2008 in Tulsa, OK. According to a CALEA staff member, since 2005 when the flagship award was first introduced, there have been approximately 1200 on site assessments, and of those only 134 agencies have achieved the flagship recognition award.

Looking at the picture below, Executive Director Sylvester Daughtry, Jr. is on the left. Next to him is St. Joseph Police Officer Rick Wall. On the far right, the gentleman handing Police Chief Chris Connally the certificate is Chairman James M. O’Dell.