Public Safety Awards: ‘Just Doing My Job’

Saving a toddler from choking. Tracking down a serial burglar. Using a database to recover stolen jewelry.

Chief Lee Vague handed out several awards to police, firefighters and EMTs on Thursday during the department’s annual recognition event.

But if you asked those involved about the incidents, they’d say: “I’m just doing my job,” Vague said.

“We have good work done here every single day,” he said.

The award ceremony also honored citizen Shane Mumm, whose 911 call after he saw someone tampering with his car led to the arrest of two suspects and the recovery of thousands of dollars worth of stolen items for more than 20 metro area residents.

The awards recognized public safety personnel for everything from community outreach to the investigation of a false sexual assault to leadership on the city’s SWAT team.

Below are the award winners.

Contributions to Public Education

• Cory Bauman
• Nathan Bietler
• Angela Kain
• Tim Heap
• Brett Merkatoris
• Chris O’Brien
• Ben Nelson
• Scott Tenner

Station Leadership

• Craig Bloom
• John Byrne
• Mike Douvier
• Chris Erhard
• Russ Hawkinson

Sexual Assault Investigation

• Katie Cafferty
• Kim Shogren
• Jeff Snyder

Theft Investigation

• Michele Jurjans

Commercial Burglary Investigation

• Michele Jurjans

Residential Burglary Investigation

• Lynn Drost
• Chris Huhn
• Michele Jurjans
• Tony Ofstead
• Lucas Rogers
• Kim Shogren

Medical Intervention on Choking Patient

• Jason Arney O’Neil

Motor Vehicle Crash (Afton)

• Jeff Gottstein
• Natalie Martin
• Fran Schmitz
• Nick Wachal

Theft Investigation

• Jeff Benysek

Jewelry Recovery

• Wendy Simone

K-9 Narcotics Certification

• Jeff Gottstean

K-9 Narcotics Certification

• Jason Posel

Portal Development

• Craig Erhard

Firehouse Improvements

• Eric DeBaker

Public Education Leadership

• William Braun

Development of Training Records System

• Craig Erhard
• Tim Heap
• Britney Paradowski

Special Response Team Service

• Dave Brennan

Service to Public Safety

• Chris Zacharias

Dedication to Fire Service

• Paul Weichert

• Shane Mumm

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