Thursday, April 24, 1997
Department honors top officers
By JERRY DANIEL REED
Senior Staff Writer
A 26-year police veteran and a patrol officer with four years
under her belt accepted prestigious awards at an Abilene Police
Department ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
Patrolman Lynn Tidwell was named the department's officer of
the year, and Lt. Robert Waggoner was recognized as supervisor/manager
of the year. Theirs were the first such accolades awarded by the
department. In the past, civic clubs and veterans groups honored
officers of the year. None of those were women, so that's another
trail Tidwell blazed.
Police Chief Melvin Martin, assisted by two of his top deputies
handed out 16 quarterly and annual awards before scores of uniformed
officers, civilian employees of the department, and family members.
"My first emotion is shock, and the second is, there must
be some mistake," said Waggoner. "(The police department)
is a great place to work. I appreciate it. Thank you."
"Well, I don't do my job for awards like this," Tidwell
said. "I do my job because I love my work. I am proud of
my work, and I am very honored to receive this award." Her
fellow officers' participation in the selection made it especially
meaningful, she said.
Looking back, Tidwell said her most challenging situation was
her first time as a hostage crisis primary negotiator. An intoxicated
man distraught over conflicts at work, at home and with the law,
had locked himself in his house and threatened to kill himself.
It was no empty threat, either, because he was known to have guns
with him.
'It was stressful, and I was nervous," about handling
the situation right, she said. And she found herself relieved
and gratified when the man came out and surrendered peaceably,
the Rio Grande Valley native added.
Tidwell came relatively late to police work, having worked
as a retail store manager and a stay-at-home mom before enrolling
in the police academy.
Clyde-native Waggoner recalls several tense incidents during
a long career, two in particular. In one, the tactical squad was
called to a bank where a man had fired into the ceiling and had
taken a terrified secretary as hostage.
In the other memorable episode, Waggoner's tactical squad was
called as a back-up to the Taylor County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's deputies had surrounded a house near Lawn, where a suspected
synthesizer of illegal drugs was holed up. They later recovered
a small arsenal of stolen firearms, he said.
Three officers were presented police commendation bars, three
others got community service awards, and one a certificate of
merit.
Five officers and one civilian employee were awarded certificates
of civic achievement for putting together a Christmas party for
College Heights Elementary School pupils. Several have continued
to read to classes at the school that serves mainly low-income
families, and some have given money for children to obtain supplies.
Shain Burks, whose volunteer undercover work in the North 13th
and Ash vicinity was credited with knocking a large dent in the
vice trade there, earned a commendation bar. And his backup, Officer
Chris Nafe, earned a certificate of merit.
Officers Marc Fletcher and Ronnie Stiltner received commendation
bars for conceiving and running a drug interdiction program on
Interstate 20 for several months in 1996-97. The project led to
the confiscation of 590 pounds of marijuana and about $27,000
in cash and $15,000 worth of property connected to drug trafficking.
Officer Chris Smith was honored for his successful campaign
to get a drug dealer to leave the 1100 block of Ash, near a day-care
center serving disadvantaged children. Smith learned from the
tax appraisal office that the pusher was occupying a building
without the owner's permission, and the man eventually packed
his bags.
Officer Kim Vickers accepted a community service award for
his problem-oriented policing initiative in getting a police sub-station
located at the Mall of Abilene during the holiday shopping rush
of December.
The project shaved vital minutes off police response time to
calls from the Mall concerning such incidents as shoplifting,
said Johnston.
For initiating a police trading cards project, Officer Joe
Tauer was presented a community service award. Local organizations
sponsor printing the trading cards, which are patterned after
the trading cards that feature professional ballplayers.
Civic achievement awards went to Officers Jerry Scott, Dwight
Kinney, Rodney Holder, Andy Hill and Samuel Garcia and to civilian
Donna Scott for the College Heights Christmas party. Scott has
been visiting the school since last September to read to the children.
Several of the group also helped needy children afford needed
supplies.
Officer Tommy Pope was given an attendance award for working
10 years without using a sick day.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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