During an awards ceremony on January 25th, the St. Joseph Police Department recognized officers, non-sworn personnel, and citizens for their meritorious service. The training room at the Buchanan County Law Enforcement Center was the location for this year's annual Promotional and Awards Ceremony. This event is normally held each year during Employee Recognition Week, however, due to the tragic loss of Officer Dan De Kraai in September, it was rescheduled for January 25th. The Ceremony included promotions, service awards for service to the city and special recognition awards to citizens and department members from the St. Joseph Police Department.

The Promotional segment began with Communications Operator Rebecca Beattie being recognized for her promotion to Communications Supervisor. Ms. Beattie works the midnight shift in the Communications Center. Officer Shawn Green received recognition for his promotion to Police Sergeant; he, too, works the midnight shift on Patrol.

The Awards Ceremony began with presentations to citizens for Distinguished Service. Dennis Lopez, Anthony Quinn and Jeffrey Thompson were recognized for giving chase to a robbery suspect armed with a knife. These men witnessed a woman yelling for help on the Kovac's lot at 22nd and Frederick after being robbed. Mr. Quinn tackled the suspect, receiving a minor cut. All of the men held down the suspect until Police arrived to take him into custody.

The other Citizen Distinguished Service Commendation was given to James, Samantha and James Helton, Jr. The Helton's witnessed a subject shoot a man on the parking lot of Taco Bell, 910 Francis, and drive off. They followed the shooter until they could get the plate number to call it in to Police. With the information they provided, the Police were able to take the suspect into custody before the victim arrived at the hospital.

The next segment of the ceremony featured the following officers and civilian employees being honored for their service to the citizens of St. Joseph. Those receiving 10 year awards were: Dawn Kneib, Roy Hoskins, Aaron Beene, Matt Biggs, Jamie Walker and Kallie Lamb; 15 years: Charlotte Catron, Diana Wilson, Richard Bradley, Gary Murphy, Jason Norton, Jayson Person, Roy Wedlow, Jr., and Richard Woodley; 20 years: Wanda Burks, Curtis Howard, Ron Gordon, John "Kevin" Duty, Henry Pena, Jennifer Protzman, Paul Gatewood and Kevin Castle; 25 years: Darryl Lehman, Eddie Wilson and Greg Gilpin; 30 years: Terry Adams and Sandra Ezzell, and 35 years: Ron Zoubek.

Communications Operator Lisa Anders received the Exceptional Duty Award. After receiving a call from a person wishing to commit suicide, Anders quickly established a rapport with the caller, who was going to hang herself. Lisa remained calm and convinced the caller to take the proper steps to keep from harming herself. Lisa stayed on the line with the caller for 8 minutes while officers responded. Officers arrived and were able to take the caller to go get the proper help she needed. The caller stated that if it wasn't for Lisa's actions that night she would have hung herself.

Communications Operator Jamie Walker received the Life Saving Medal. A 911 call was received reference a house fire with a victim still inside the home. While another operator dispatched fire units, Jamie calmed the resident down and helped him with instructions to stay near to the floor and get to the bathroom to put a wet towel over his nose and mouth. He was eventually rescued by fire units. Later, the Fire Captain reported that he felt the dispatcher helping fire personnel with the victim's exact location was crucial and commended her for a job well done.

Communications Operator Sara Nickle also received the Exceptional Duty. A call was received reference a man that was upset and in possession of a loaded handgun. Sara gave information to the responding officers as soon as she received it; even after Officer Kenny Smith advised "shots fired", Sara remained calm and composed the entire time, dispatching all available units to head that way. She performed very well under pressure and used sound judgment.

Officer Richard Bradley and Garage Mechanic Brad Moad received the Community Service Award for their hard work and dedication to a special project for Battle of the Badges for Special Olympics. A benefit race was scheduled and Officer Bradley purchased a car and began the process of turning it into a race car for the benefit race. He enlisted the help of Brad Moad and between the two of them they went out into the community and got all of the work done and equipment necessary for the race car donated. Richard and Brad spent many hours of their personal time and money on this race car. They also managed to raise the $1,500 that was necessary to register for the race.

Sgt. Larry Stobbs. Sgt. Stobbs began a year-long endeavor to amend the City Code to include a provision that required all who serve or sell alcoholic beverages to obtain a Server License issued by the City of St. Joseph. Since the passage of the new ordinance, Sgt. Stobbs has implemented the program and added features to the department website to make the program function as smoothly as possible. Sgt. Stobbs' efforts to amend City Code, develop and present the Server Training, devise an efficient application procedure and maintain a database of servers licensed by the City are above and beyond the expectations of his primary assignment as Grants Coordinator for the department.

Officers Jeff Lanning and Doug Loehner received the Exceptional Duty Award. They responded to a fire at Danford Hall retirement apartments and immediately ran into the building to evacuate the residents without any protective equipment. Both officers cleared the first floor and started toward the second floor, but were stopped by firefighters who advised the smoke was too thick for them to go any further.

On March 22, 2010, a subject with a Federal Parole Violation Warrant barricaded himself inside his home. With the combined efforts and tactics of the Buchanan County/St. Joseph Police Department's Special Response Team, the subject was taken into custody with only minor injuries, even after firing on officers. Sergeants Chris Black and Dave Hart, Captain Jeff Wilson, Officers Patrick Zeamer and Greg Ogdahl and Investigator Billy Miller received the Chief's Letter of Commendation for this event. Sergeants Eric Protzman and Gary Murphy, Detectives Shane Luikart and John Olszowka and Officers Mike Hardin and Scott Vanover received the Exceptional Duty Award. Officer Jason Strong, Detective Steve McClintick, and County Sergeant Tiger Parsons received the Medal of Honor.

Officer Matt Kneib was presented the Life Saving Medal. Officer Kneib entered a burning home on September 22, 2010 and pulled the female occupant to safety. He then directed fire units to the location of the second occupant, who was still inside the burning structure. Officer Kneib received minor smoke inhalation and both residents were life-flighted to the KU Medical Center Burn Unit.

The final award was presented to Officer Kenneth Smith Jr. Officer Smith responded to a domestic disturbance where the male subject was armed with a loaded handgun. After trying to approach the subject, Officer Smith got into a life or death struggle with the suspect, as the subject fired a shot at Officer Smith's head his hand was pushed away. Knowing that he was in a struggle for his life, Officer Smith used deadly force to end the threat. Officer Kenny Smith received the Medal of Honor.

To conclude the ceremony, Chief Connally recognized fallen officer Dan De Kraai with a presentation to his wife, Laura.