Two Dozen Recipients Honored at Police Awards Ceremony

Four civilians, a police auxiliary unit and 19 officers were honored for their outstanding work Tuesday night at the sixth annual Enfield Police Awards Ceremony at the Holiday Inn.

Each recipient's accomplishments were read by master of ceremonies Lt. Steve Kaselouskas, and the honorees were presented their awards by Chief Carl Sferrazza.

"Even though all of us that sign up to be law enforcement officers recognize the dangers involved in what we do every day, there are times throughout the year when some of these officers are put in positions where they have split-second time to make a decision," Sferrazza said. "They have to decide if they're going to act or not act, and depending on that decision, lives hang in the balance."

Sferrazza said there were "two groups of people that we need behind us" in order to be successful: town officials, for "providing us the resources we need to keep ouor people as safe as possible," and the citizens of Enfield. "We recognize that we are held in very high esteem by most of our residents," Sferrazza said. "We don't take that for granted, that's something we have to earn, and every day that we come to work, we try to make our decisions with that in mind."

Tuesday's honorees were:

Gail Albetski, Crystal Hill and Diane Pappas, Enfield Police Citizen Awards and Off. Steve Groshans, Departmental Citation Medal, for their roles in capturing an armed suspect who robbed the New England Bank office at 855 Enfield St. on Jan. 21, 2011.

Christina Davis, Enfield Police Citizen Award, for alerting police to a suspicious man burglarizing cars in the Enfield Commons Mall parking lot on May 2, 2011.

The Enfield Police Auxiliary Unit, Departmental Unit Citation, for outstanding performance of a variety of duties at special events and critical incidents whenever needed.

Off. Christopher Moylan and Off. Jessica Ficara, Departmental Citation Medals, for rescuing two small children and an adult female from drowning in the Connecticut River on May 30, 2011.

Off. William Vieweg, Letter of Commendation, for alerting and helping evacuate workers from Bosco's Auto Body annex on South Rd. when the on Feb. 2, 2011.

Off. Joe Blascyk and Off. Dave Driscoll, Departmental Citation Medals, for saving the life of a woman who had hanged herself in a closet on June 23, 2011.

Off. Matt Worden, Off. Ryan Wesche, Off. Nicholas King and Off. Mickey Emons, Departmental Citation Medals and Off. Keith Parent, Letter of Commendation, for their roles in evacuating residents of a burning building during a blizzard on Dec. 26, 2010.

Det. Gary Castle, Det. Marty Merritt, Det. Tim Lewis, Det. Dave Thomas, Det. Jim Chamberland, Det. James Held and Det. Ralph Jensen, Departmental Citation Medals and Lt. Willie Pedemonti, Letter of Commendation, for their rapid work in tracking down a suspect in a on Sept. 29, 2011.

"The accomplishments are amazing," Deputy Police Chief Gary Collins said. "I was impressed with each and every one. It makes me proud every time I think about the officers responding - not just the officers here that are recognized; I'm proud of each and every member of this department for what they do."

Director of Public Safety Chris Bromson said, "As always, I'm very proud of the recipients and the job they do. It's nice on these occasions to thank those who've done an extraordinary job. This is when heroism shows through."

"This was a tremendous chance to honor those men and women in blue that do a lot on a daily basis that don't get the recognition they deserve," Town Manager Matt Coppler said.