MOUNT VERNON — Officers with the Mount Vernon Police Department were busy with training in 2018, as well as their regular duties.
The MVPD 2018 Annual Report came out recently and it’s highlighted by department awards won by three officers.
Reginald ‘Rex’ Young and Qade D. Lewis shared the award for Officer of the Year, and Jeremiah Armstrong was presented with the 2018 Bartlett Award for “Outstanding Performance in the Line of Duty.”
All three officers were given the awards on March 1 after being voted on by their peers in the police department.
Young and Lewis, both corporals, shared the distinction because of their outstanding public service, integrity, loyalty and dedication.
Armstrong has been on the force since 2008 and was appointed the School Resource Officer in 2015.
Other MVPD statistics include the following:
Ptl. Tyler Berger was second in adult arrests with 195; Ptl. Jason Payne and Ptl. Sarah Wheeler each had 175 and Young and Ptl. Justin Trowbridge each had 168.
There were 604 warning tickets issued by the department and Wheeler had 85, followed by Ptl. Brian Weiser with 76 and Lewis with 72.
Ptl. Justin Trowbridge had 73 accident reports, while Berger had 61 and Ptl. Matthew Haver had 55.
During 2018, the ESU team continued to train on a monthly basis to maintain the skills necessary to respond to critical incidents. The training focused on marksmanship skills, tactical entry and movement, and unit cohesion.
In regards to personnel changes, Corporal Young was assigned to the position of Team Leader of the ESU team and Ptl. Zachary Uhler filled the opening of Team Sniper.
Team members received new tactical body armor. The expense was covered by a state grant that provided a 75 percent reimbursement for the cost of the equipment.
The state of Ohio required each officer obtain an additional six hours of continuing education for human trafficking and one hour for companion animal encounters.
Other notable courses completed by the officers throughout the year included:
•Ptl. Uhler completed the four-day interview and interrogation technique located at the Ohio Peace Officer’s Training Academy in London, Ohio.
•An agitation class for Ptl. Wheeler and K9 Laya was completed at Storm Dog Tactical in Sunbury.
•Ptl. Willis successfully completed the Basic SWAT training seminar in May and, unrelated to the training, he was presented with the MADD Award of Excellence in December.
•Corporal Young completed the Gracie Survival Tactics Instructor course in November in the Ohio Peace Officer’s Training Academy in London, Ohio and Corporal Lewis completed the Hidden Compartments and Other Areas of Concealment class in October. Detective Butler also completed the Basic Narcotics Investigator course in May.
•Corporal Lewis completed the Taser CEW Instructor course and is now able to re-certify the current officers and certify new officers to operate department issued Tasers.
•Ptl. Armstrong completed Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response course in August.
•Several officers completed RADAR (Rapid Deployment, Awareness, Intervention, Decisiveness, EMS, Recovery) training on June 18.
