Heroic Staff, Community Members Honored By WHPD

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The West Hartford Police Department last week gathered and honored the heroics of several of those in their ranks as well as those in the community in recent years.

WHPD officials Thursday hosted an awards ceremony at West Hartford Town Hall's auditorium, celebrating "the great work of the West Hartford Police Department employees and several West Hartford community members."

Many community members received the West Hartford Police Citizen's Award, which is given to an individual whose actions have aided WHPD in the prevention of crime, the apprehension of criminals or who performed a valuable service, police said.

In addition, four officers and a dispatcher received a Life Saving Award which is granted to any sworn member for a successful effort in saving a human life which involved exceptional courage or performance, according to police.

Several unit citations were awarded to dispatchers, officers, detectives and supervisors for exhibiting exceptional professional skill and conduct during a coordinated action.

Two supervisors and an officer were awarded a Departmental Citation, which is given to any member of the department who "through his/her own initiative and diligence, apprehends or through his/her actions causes to be apprehended a felon who might otherwise go undetected."

Those who received Citizen's Awards were: Gregory Adams (2019); Arthur Couch (2019); Karyn Hansen (2019); Richard Cosgrove (2019); Manuel Martinez (2020); Lucelly Garcia (2020); and Avital Porat (2021).

Those receiving Life Saving Awards were: Laura Cashman (2021); Officer Kelly Shimo (2022); Officer Maria Albini (2022); Bloomfield police officer George Farrah (2022); and Officer Jack Sanford (2022).

Those earning Unit Citations were: Officer Ryan Dudzinski (2021); Officer Peter Kisela (2021); Officer Nicolas Sanford (2021); Officer Nicholas Sachetti (2021); Officer Lamar Bowsky (2021); Sgt. Sara Nagle (2021); Sgt. Raymond Swank (2021); Officer John Butkiewicz (2021); and Det. John Cardone (2021).

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