Saint Paul Police Department names Officer,Detective and Civilian employees of the year

April 23,2012

 

Saint Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith will name the Officer, Detective and Civilian of the year at a luncheon ceremony held at the Holiday Inn East on Tuesday April 24, 2012.

This award is given out annually to those employees who have shown exemplary performance in their fields.

 

What:

Saint Paul Police 15^th annual Officer, Detective and Civilian awards luncheon.

 

When:  

Tuesday April 24, 2012

  

Where:

Holiday Inn East (2201 Burns Avenue, St.Paul Minnesota, (651)731-2220)

 

 

 

The following SPPD employees are this year’s finalist:

 

                                        

                                           Officer of the year

 

 

Officer Michael P. Carroll

Is nominated for his dedication and proficiency as a Saint Paul Police

Officer. Since 1990, he has been assigned to the Eastern District where he

has not only performed patrol duties, but also is the STAT-MAP Coordinator,

multi-housing response officer, problem property liaison and area business

contact person. All of these roles are done thoroughly and with a positive

demeanor. He shows great initiative by performing these tasks without

any prompting from his supervisors. He considers them to be part of his

duties and he performs each one with great enthusiasm and sincerity. As

the Stat-Map coordinator, he analyzes crime trends and compiles extensive

reports that track these trends within specific geographical areas. The

reports are easy to comprehend and are used by his Sergeants and

Commanders to focus on crime prevention strategies. As the multihousing

and problem property liaison, he is the key go-to person whenever

there are questions regarding properties. He has created such a great

rapport with rental property owners and managers that they are very

effective in handling issues promptly and efficiently. He has been an

instrumental member of the City’s Property Committee and has recently

volunteered to be part of a new pilot crime prevention project co-sponsored

by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is always

professional and empathetic to the citizens and business owners that

know him from his many years of working the east side. He is committed

to each concern they bring to his attention and is highly respected by them.

 

 

 Sergeant Eric D. Vang-Sitcler

Is nominated for his vast knowledge and work with violent crimes and

gangs. He has become the department expert on black gangs in the City of

Saint Paul. Over the years, he has developed a positive rapport with

numerous contacts in the community. They trust and respect him, and

willingly provide him with information that he then shares with members

of the department to assist them with cases that are under investigation.

He has visited the districts and communicated his knowledge to them

about the complexity of gangs and why the hostility exists between them.

The visual depictions of gang relationships that he has created are a great

aid to patrol. He ensures that they are frequently updated and shared

electronically. Teaching officers how to use investigative tools on the Web,

ensuring that critical officer-safety information is quickly disseminated,

and making himself available at all hours to assist whenever his expertise

is needed are all positive and exemplary attributes that he brings to our

department. The time and commitment that he selflessly gives is truly

beneficial to our department and to the City of Saint Paul.

 

                                       Detective of the year

Sergeant William F. Haider

Is nominated for his outstanding investigative skills and work with

internet crimes. Since 2003, he has been assigned to the Internet Crimes

Against Children Task Force. He has become an expert in the field and is

called on by many throughout the United States to teach internet related

investigations. Many agencies turn to him for general advice and more

specifically how to apply the law. Although his work has focused on child

exploitation and pornography, he also investigates other types of internet

crimes. In 2008, he received a complaint from someone in England regarding

an online predator using deception to manipulate people to commit

suicide. The suspect lived in Minnesota and was eventually charged in

2011 after years of his hard work and dedication. This high profile, international

case, required him to carefully document a large volume of digital

evidence and coordinate it with departments from Canada and England,

both countries where the suicide victims resided. By using his skillful

interviewing techniques, he was able to obtain an admission of guilt

from the suspect. During the three years of this complicated investigation

and trial, he did not discuss the case. His goal was to bring justice to the

victims and their families, not draw attention to himself. Through all of

his investigations, he remains humble and solely has the intention to help

citizens.

 

 

Sergeant Paul E. Meffert

Is nominated for his efforts related to domestic violence and violent crime

investigations. Domestic violence cases are frequent and he has established

many relationships within the community to combat these problems,

including Saint Paul Intervention Project, Women’s Advocates, Children’s

Safety Centers, Somali Outreach and Asian Women of Minnesota, to

name a few. These relationships reinforce his personal commitment that

no one will fight the battle alone and that there will be a community

response to each problem. He displays professionalism and is sincere and

tenacious with each case. He also demonstrates teamwork within the

department by assisting with other cases that involve suspects or victims

from previous domestic violence related situations. In 2011, the Family

and Sexual Violence Unit began a program to increase case dispositions

and provide better feedback, corrections, and other useful information to

officers regarding cases they investigated. He led the way with providing

the most feedback which has increased confidence and communication

between the Operations and Major Crimes Divisions. He is highly respected

and a mentor to many.

 

 

                                  Civilian Employee of the year:

 

 

Lisa M. Drake

Is nominated for her commitment to her hard work and dedication on

several projects in the Internal Affairs Unit. As the sole administrative

support in a very busy and intense unit, she is required to juggle many

duties and deadlines. Several projects were made a priority in addition to

the regular tasks she performed. She devoted many hours to troubleshooting

and developing the best procedures to have them completed accurately and

on time. One project was an Internal Affairs audit of all IA records. This

was a very mundane and time consuming task, but she was aware of the

importance to have all records match between the IA database, the IA

manual index record and the personnel discipline files. Secondly, all data

was then converted into a new IA database. Some data was too old to

convert, so it was necessary for her to manually enter the data. Lastly, she

worked on the Brady project. She is a member of a committee, along with

city and county attorneys, responsible to establish procedures to meet federal

mandates regarding information that must be released that may reflect the

credibility of an officer. Once guidelines were set, she was given the

monumental task of reviewing all discipline letters and making suggestions

if they fell within the Brady guidelines. All of these projects could not

have been completed successfully without her organizational skills, her

problem-solving abilities, and her positive attitude.

 

 

 Julia M. Rust

Is nominated for her exemplary work ethic and dedication to the Saint

Paul Police Department. As the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Police,

she not only ensures that he is at the correct place at the correct time, but

she also screens the many citizens, directors, civic leaders, and employees

that want to speak to or meet with the Chief. The knowledge she has

acquired over her long career is something many, rely on to obtain historical

employee information, to advise on how to proceed with an issue or project,

or to understand why the department handles situations in a particular way.

She always ensures the department is represented professionally. She has a

remarkable sense of how a change in policy or a decision may have an

adverse impact on our department or an employee. In addition, she

selflessly devotes many hours to special projects such as the collection of

toys and treats for K-9’s in the military, arranging numerous promotion

and award ceremonies, and capturing the character of the department through

the many photographs she has taken at various events. Her enthusiasm

to make things the best that they can be was truly displayed with the

increase interest and attendance in the department’s annual retiree dinner.

Her sincere commitment to the Chief, her excellent communication skills,

and the value she places on all that she does for the integrity of the

department are commendable.

 

If there are any questions in this matter please contact Sgt. Paul Paulos @ 651-331-9240