Police awards were presented on Thursday night at the Unified Government Commission meeting.
“This is just a snapshot of the awesome work that’s done every day in our city by our officers on the streets,” Police Chief Terry Zeigler said. “They do a phenomenal job.”
Several officers were presented with the meritorious award for a disturbance call at 502 Minnesota Ave. on Dec. 12, 2016.
The manager of the hotel there had asked police to remove a person who had been causing a disturbance, according to police. The person had an outstanding warrant. As officers went to the room, the suspect fired shots through the door, almost striking the officers.
Police tried to get the suspect to leave the barricaded room by deploying smoke, when the armed suspect went into the stairwell, confronted an officer, then returned to his room and gave himself up, according to police. He was taken into custody without loss of life, police said.
Kansas City, Kansas, police who received the meritorious award for the hotel incident included Capt. Kelly Herron, Sgt. Randon Holloway, Sgt. Keith Faulkner and Officers Nathan Gumpert, Bryan Minich, Christopher Blake, Chad Shore, Mark Gambrill, David Weaver, Michael Moulin, Jesse Crawford, Lewis Edwards, Paul Simonich, Jacob Dent, Jeffrey Gardner, Dion Dundovich and Miguel Leal.
The meritorious award also was presented to deputy U.S. marshals, special agents and a detective for their work under fire April 22, 2017, to locate a suspect in a case involving a person who had been kidnapped and killed, according to police. A homeowner gave permission to search the location where the suspect was, and the suspect began shooting at federal officers.
The suspect was barricaded through the night, occasionally firing at officers, according to police. The suspect finally gave himself up.
Receiving the meritorious award for their work in this case were Deputy U.S. Marshal John Volk, Deputy U.S. Marshal Zac Howard, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brady Flannigan, Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Wallace, Detective Michael Martin, Special Agent Matthew Roberts, Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Johnson and Special Agent Gene Arnold.
Five Kansas City, Kansas, police officers received the meritorious award for their work in a quadruple homicide on May 9, 2017, at 1901 S. Boeke. A dispatcher located an address from his license tag information.
When officers arrived, they found the suspect saying goodbye to his family as he was preparing to leave the city, according to police. Without the dispatcher’s quick action, the suspect would have escaped, police said.
Officers Matthew Baker and Sara Janeczko confronted the suspect, and he fled into the woods, according to police. The officers set up a perimeter, and more officers arrived who helped pursue the suspect, with a canine unit. Three officers were at risk because the suspect was still armed, according to police. The suspect was tracked, found and arrested.
Receiving the meritorious award for their work in this case were Officers Matthew Baker, Patrick Locke, Sara Janeczko, Joshua Hockett and Mark Wilcox.
Two officers also received the meritorious award for a case on Sept. 7, 2017, where a suspect was holding his mother at knifepoint and would not let her leave the home, according to police.
Officers entered the residence and were able to talk the suspect into releasing the victim, according to police. The suspect stated he wanted the officers to shoot and kill him, police said. Officers de-escalated the call and talked with the suspect for more than 40 minutes. The suspect put down the knife, gave himself up and received treatment.
The officers who received the meritorious award for this case included acting Capt. Lucas Graves and Officer Abigail Fithian.
Three persons from KSHB-TV, Channel 41, received the police department’s Citizen Award for their helicopter rescue of an abducted 4-year-old child on July 12, 2017.
A child was inside a stolen vehicle, and police “pinged” a cell phone that had been left inside the car to get its location, according to police. Because police helicopters were unavailable at that time, the Channel 41 helicopter assisted in locating the child, police said.
Within a short time, the stolen vehicle was located in Tonganoxie, Kansas, by the helicopter, police officers went to the scene and the child was returned safe, police said.
Receiving the citizen award from Channel 41 were Capt. Gregg Bourdon, pilot; James Moore, photographer; and Steve Kaut, editor.
The Lancaster-Melton Award of Merit, a new award, went to officers who make an outstanding arrest or dedicate long hours to accomplish an extensive task that makes the community safer.
Receiving the Lancaster-Melton Award of Merit were Capt. Stephen Owen, Detective Stuart Littlefield, Officer Timothy Fowler, Officer David Hopkins, Officer Kenneth Hickerson and Officer Rylan Douglas.
Receiving the police chief’s special project ribbon was Officer Cameron Morgan, who works in the police public information office and has made several videos and handles police recruitment.
