City of Seattle Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor

NEWS ADVISORY
SUBJECT:   Seattle Police honors employees for valor, heroism and exceptional work
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    10/15/2005  6:00:00 PM	FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Police Media Relations  (206) 684-5520

The Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Police Foundation honored the exceptional work performed by outstanding employees on Friday, October 14 at the Seattle Westin Hotel, Grand Ballroom.

Thirty-four individuals and eight teams--who are nominated by their peers--were recognized in the categories of Medal of Valor; Officer of the Year; Detective of the Year; Field Training Officer of the Year; Civilian of the Year; Precinct Officers of the Year; Inspirational; Innovation; Excellence; Community Ambassador; Impact; and Outstanding Public Service.

The accomplishments of the Medal of Valor winners include:

• When a man entered the Federal Courthouse on June 20, 2005, carrying a hand grenade and backpack, and quickly breached security by inching his way into a secured area – the Federal Courthouse Team composed of Det. Scott Kawahara, Ofcs. Tim Pasternak, Bill Collins, Chris Myers, and Mike Coomes – acted as physical barriers between themselves, the suspect and the people who were trying to exit the building. They willingly and without hesitation put themselves in a position that could have ended their lives to save the lives of others.
• Ofc. Erik Salisbury was working off-duty on March 21, 2005, and had heard a domestic violence call involving a suspect holding a 10-month old baby hostage. Having the expertise on the use of long rifle, he felt his expertise was needed. As soon as he arrived at the scene, he was immediately placed in the center of an escalating situation where the suspect continued to hold the infant at knifepoint, and was at times, using the child as a shield. His courage, confidence and skill of actions in assessing and ending an extremely volatile situation saved the life of the baby, who was completely unharmed.
• It was the West Precinct Anti-Crime Team’s (ACT), composed of Sgt. Larry Brotherton, Ofcs. Martin Harris, Daniel Espinoza and James Rodgers, professionalism and expertise in showing valor above and beyond the call of duty. While talking with two individuals and working in an area where numerous complaints had been reported on May 14, 2004, there was a man who had aimed a gun in the direction of these officers and the two individuals. The man fired shots at them. Had the West Precinct ACT not react quickly, it is certain the suspect would have continued to fire his weapon – putting a number of other people in serious risk of being shot and killed.
• When Ofc. Nick Bauer arrived at an evening disturbance in the Qwest Field parking lot on Saturday, October 10, 2004, right after the bars had just closed for the night – he saw a fight in progress and saw a suspect with a handgun fire a round. His quick response in being forced to shoot the armed man saved the lives of many people that evening, including the lives of officers who were at the scene, and prevented a much larger tragedy from happening.

In the category of the Precinct Officers of the Year, the winners are Tanya Kinney–Southwest Precinct; Steve Kaffer and Danial Conine–South Precinct, Kim Biggs–East Precinct; Tom Burns and Randall Jokela–West Precinct; and Sgt. Dianne Newsom–North Precinct. The Community Ambassador winners are Sgts. Ryan Long and Jim Scott, and Ofc. Suzanne Parton. Det. Heidi Traverso and Ofcs. T.J. Berg are the Outstanding Public Service recipients. T.J. Berg is also the Field Training Officer of the Year. Tom Burns is the Officer of the Year, and Mel Britt is the Detective of the Year. Cathy Wenderoth receives the award of Civilian of the Year.

Ofcs. Jim Pitts and Dave Toner; Janet McFarlane; and Dick Carr are winners of the Inspirational Award. The Innovation Awards go to Det. Mark Hanf; the Parking Enforcement Officer Emergency Operation Vehicle Course Training Team composed of Sgt. Don Smith; Ofcs. Jim Brakebill, Ed Brilliante, Randy Robinson, Mike Jongma, and Danni Crooks; PEOs Mat Miller, Andrea Kurosu, Frank Mangialardi and Michael Eaton; and the In-Car Camera Project Team, namely, Lt. Mark Kuehn, Ofcs. Dan Kirchmeier, Pat Kuehn and Bill Alcayaga, Karim Miller, Bert Bottom, Leo Poort, Bruce Hills, Mike Quinn, Dave Chavez, Cesar Hidalgo-Landeros, Eric Griswold, and Sylvia Shiroyama.

The Excellence Awards go to Colette Alberts; Sgt. Steve Ameden; Ofc. Kim Biggs; Det. Pilar Curtis; Kathy Hogan; Ofc. Ben Hughey; Det. Todd Jakobsen; Ofc. Kevin Jones; Ofc. Elizabeth Litalien; Francisco Tello; Mimi Walsh; Sue Yamaguchi-Wong; and the Field Training Officer Unit composed of Sgt. Barb Wilson, Ofc. Virgil McDonald, and Nancy Lenz.

The following three teams have received the Impact Award: 1) West Precinct Team – Ofcs. Tom Weaver, Rick Nelson and Steve Rice; Jungle Team – Sgt. Cindy Granard, Ofcs. Mike Alphin, Tim Liston, Brian Hansen and Lauren Truscott; and Disabled Placard Team – PEOs Aaron Pason, Ross Leonard, Mike Miller, Mike Martin, Jane Hell, and Sally Haubert.

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