Crime & Safety
Orland Park Police Officers Receive Life Saving Awards
Orland Park honored four of its police officers, recognizing their life saving efforts.
ORLAND PARK, IL (December 4, 2018) – Four Orland Park police officers were honored at the December 3 meeting of the Orland Park Village Board, lauded for their actions during a November 14 call for a distressed individual.
“We see videos of police officers in action around the state and around the country making life and death decisions,” said Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy as he introduced the dash cam video at the board meeting. “We are going to share a short video of several Orland Park police officers in action in service to our community.”
On November 14, Officers Kelly-Valen, Fallucca, LeGris and Folliard responded to a call for a person in distress, the chief explained.
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“A person was on the ledge of the fourth floor of a parking garage, threatening to jump,” the chief explained. “We train our officers to protect and serve, preserve life and property. We don’t want them to do that at the expense of their own lives, but they did it.”
A member of the department’s Crisis Intervention Team, Kelly-Valen approached the subject standing on the nine inch ledge four stories above the ground, engaged the subject, gained his confidence and continued to close in as the other officers closed in out of sight.
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The Crisis Intervention Team within the Orland Park Police Department is trained to recognize signs of mental illness and to take the proper steps to de-escalate situations involving people with mental illness.
“Officer Valen got closer and closer to engage the subject and then tackled him on the fourth floor ledge of the building, saving this individual from certain death,” McCarthy said.
The chief showed the dash cam video of the save during the village board meeting.
“Officer Valen risked her own life to save another and Officers LeGris, Fallucca and Folliard acted promptly and swiftly to help Officer Valen,” the chief said. “The actions of these officers were in the highest tradition of police service.”
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and Trustee Pat Gira, chair of the village’s Public Safety Committee, joined the chief in congratulating the officers. Pekau presented each with a lifesaving award, noting, “All of these officers stood up and saved a life,” adding that the entire village board was very proud of them.
The chief added, “Job well done.”
