Last Friday night, nearly a thousand people gathered downtown for the 10th Annual Seattle Police Foundation Awards Banquet. The Mayor was there, so were Councilmembers Sally Clark, Richard Conlin, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Tom Rasmussen and myself.
I’ve been to many of these banquets over the years; there’s something special about an evening dedicated to acknowledging the honorable work of our police officers and the civilian employees of the Police Department. Friday night was the same; affirmation, praise and kind words all around.
There were lighter moments, too. Like when we watched video clips of Police Guild President Rich O’Neill as a young patrol officer talking about his job keeping peace on the streets. I wondered if he thought then that a couple decades later he would be a union president that is both loved and vilified. Even the Mayor revealed that we all change over time as he expressed his love of police horses, just a year after removing their funding from his police budget. (More, including the list of award winners after the jump.)
Chief John Diaz got a chuckle when he opened his remarks with a “you all know how much I enjoy public speaking.” Whether the Chief likes it or not doesn’t really matter because his words do matter. Chief Diaz spoke of the honor and virtue of being a police officer, including a touching moment when he recounted the start of his own police career in Seattle. He never dreamed he’d one day be Chief of Police.So here’s recognition and a big “thank you” for the 2011 award honorees.
Outstanding Public Service: A person or team that goes above and beyond the expectations of their position and in doing so have impacted a person, problem or event for the better.
Officer Jeffrey Johnson, North Precinct Patrol
Officer Steve Redmond, Traffic
Julie Lange, Herbie Wilson and Lawrence Yu, Information Technology
Community Ambassador: As a result of this person or team’s action, a productive working relationship was cultivated between community members and the Seattle Police Department.
Officer John Abraham, Traffic
Officer Jim Ritter, North Precinct
Sergeant Alvin Little, Narcotics
PEO Nanette Toyoshima, Parking Enforcement
K9 Officer Mark Wong and Ziva
K9 Officer Chris Hairston and Orka
Detectives Denise Bouldin, Nick Carter, Erin Rodriguez, Kevin Stuckey and Sam Braboy, School Emphasis Program
Inspirational: A person or team that consistently promoted a can-do approach and positive attitude that inspired others to achieve performance excellence.
Jan Hoyt, 911 Communications
Detective Carrie McNally, Audit, Accreditation and Police Section
Bonnie Newman, 911 Communications
Sharron Underwood, South Precinct Administration
Impact Award: A team or unit that, through their collaborative and innovative working style, has had a significant impact on a crime or crime related problem.
Officer Scott Enright, Crisis Intervention Team
Office Dan Nelson, Crisis Intervention Team
Justin Dawson, Mental Health Professional, Crisis Intervention Team
Excellence Award: A person or team that consistently demonstrates exceptional work performance within their position that made positive contributions to the Police Department.
Sergeant Kevin Aratani, Robbery and Fugitive Unit
Officer Daniel Auderer, East Precinct Patrol
Detective Trent Bergmann, Vice/High-Risk Victims Unit
Officer Derek Bolton, East Precinct Patrol
Laura Charnley, Data Information Center
Shanna Christie, Digital Communications
Detective David Dunn, Fraud, Forgery and Financial Exploitation Unit
Officer Tom Fitzgerald, SWAT Unit
Detective Brandon James, Narcotics
Terrie Johnston, North Precinct Crime Prevention
Ronda Lewis, Budget Unit
Janet McFarlane, Patrol and Special Operations Administration
Lieutenant Marc Olson, Harbor Patrol
Mike Quinn, Strategic Planning Section
Sergeant Sean Whitcomb, Public Affairs
Detectives Gene Foster, Ed Garcia, Jeff Spong, Jess Pitts, Kyle Kizzier, Julie Wight, Susan Dituse, Leslie Smith, Mike Moore, Roger Ishimitsu, Lauren Givens, Donna Strangeland, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Investigations Unit
Precinct Officers of the Year: Officers recognized for their consistent and outstanding work at the precinct level who are selected by their precinct captain as upholding high professional standards.
Officers Lora Alcantara and Jeffry Dotson, West Precinct
Officer Gerry House, East Precinct
Officer George Davisson, North Precinct
Officer Ryan Lancaster, South Precinct
Sergeant Vincent Guballa, Southwest Precinct
Parking Enforcement Officer of the Year: A PEO who has served with distinction by showing dedication to the goals of the unit, service to the citizens of the city and a cooperative work ethic.
PEO Minh Doan
Civilian of the Year: A civilian employee who demonstrates outstanding work on a significant project as well as exhibits an overall outstanding work ethic, dependable and reliable response to problems and a tenacity that results in consistently high-quality work products.
Karim Miller, Forensics and Digital Imaging Manager
Officer of the Year: A police officer(s) who demonstrate outstanding work on a significant incident as well as display an exceptional work ethic, positive attitude and overall willingness to go the extra mile.
Officer Chris McNulty, North Precinct Neighborhood Corrections Initiative
Dept. of Corrections Officer Jeff Sargent, North Precinct Neighborhood Corrections Initiative
Detective of the Year: A detective(s) who demonstrate outstanding work on a significant case as well as exhibits a superior work ethic, investigative savvy and tenacity that results in consistently high quality work products.
Detective Samuel DeJesus
Detective Brandon James
Sergeant Erik Allen
Distinguished Service: Awarded to police officers who performed a distinguished act of courage involving imminent and serious risk or danger of personal injury.
Officer Travis Sauer, North Precinct
Officer Kieran Barton, North Precinct
Officer Eric Whitehead, North Precinct
Sergeant Steve Strand, Southwest Precinct
Officer Andrew Peloquin, Southwest Precinct
Officer Mark Gallegos, Southwest Precinct
Sergeant Joe Fountain, West Precinct
Officer Larry Longley, West Precinct
Officer Kevin Grossman, West Precinct
Officer Chrisely Lang, West Precinct
Officer Chris Myers, West Precinct
Medal of Valor: Awarded to an officer(s) who under life threatening circumstances, choose to put themselves at great risk so that others might live.
Officer Rich McAuliffe, North Precinct
Officer Ginger Pio, North Precinct
Officer Tim Wear, North Precinct