Beyond The Badge

KSL BEYOND THE BADGE: Officer Josue Llil The following nomination letter was written by Roxeanne Vainuku, Public Information Officer for West Valley City: A BOY AND A BIRD: A couple weeks back, WVCPD Officer Llil handled a very special case; a stolen parakeet. His supervisor shared this story, "Julian, an 8 year old WVC resident, only had his parakeet, Prieto, for a couple days when it escaped his grasp and flew away for good. Julian's sadness was compounded when his family found a remarkably similar bird for sale on line. While the family suspected that the bird was their very own Prieto, they had no way to prove it and Officer Llil found himself with little recourse to help Julian. Not willing to leave Julian heartbroken, Officer Llil took it upon himself to make it right. Officer Llil spent his own money to buy a new parakeet for Julian. Julian was thrilled and this time, Neuvo Prieto has his wings clipped and should stay close by Julian's side." http://www.ksl.com/?nid=462&sid=40892781&title=officer-josu

KSL Beyond the Badge: Officer Stan Penrod The following nomination letter was written by Lieutenant Heath Rogers of the Syracuse Police Department: Officer Stan Penrod teaches DARE in all of the Elementary Schools in Syracuse. Officer Penrod’s passion for helping youth and his teaching style are well known within the DARE community. The quality of his program is so well known that DAR UTAH requested that he serve as an instructor and mentor on the State team that teaches new DARE officers. Officer Penrod has been a keynote speaker as part of his partnership with DARE UTAH at graduation ceremonies for newly trained DARE officers. Officer Penrod seeks out “at risk” youth in our community and works diligently to build relationships and trust with them. Officer Penrod has a unique way of working with these “at risk” youth. Officer Penrod often stops by to personally visit with them at their school and home, just to see how they are doing and to find out if there is anything he can do to help them be successful. O

Beyond the Badge: Detective Denise Lovendahl The following nomination letter was written by Lawrence Johnson, Mayor of Taylorsville City: Detective Denise Lovendahl has enjoyed a successful 18-year career in Law Enforcement. During her career Denise has been assigned to numerous specialty units; specifically the K-9 unit, the narcotics unit, street crimes, community oriented policing and direct enforcement with the U of U Police, the Unified Police Department and the Taylorsville Police Department. Detective Lovendahl should be commended for her resolve in investigating and arresting some of our most violent and prolific career criminals. Her abilities make the City of Taylorsville a safer place to reside and visit. Any officer in this state would be proud to call her their partner. In January and February of 2016, Detective Lovendahl was engaged in a large scale, cartel level, narcotics investigation. The investigation involved multiple suspects from several states and Mexico. Through her investigative abili

KSL Newsradio Beyond the Badge: Officer Keo Phetchamphone The following nomination letter was written by Captain Justin Chapman of the Sandy City Police Department: Officer "Keo" (as he is often referred to) was on patrol one snowy day this winter, when he noticed an elderly woman struggling to shovel her driveway. We had just experienced a hefty snowstorm and due to the age and condition of the woman, she simply could not complete the task. Making things worse, she was taking care of her husband who was bedridden. Recognizing her struggle and seeing the woman in need, Officer Keo stopped his patrol car, approached the woman, expressed his concern for her and shoveled her driveway. He then asked if she was okay or needed any other assistance. Having no other immediate needs, Officer Keo left that day and then checked on her the following day. His duty as a police officer did not require him to do what he did, but rather his internal desire to help others compelled him. He and others in law enforcement quietly

KSL Newsradio Beyond the Badge: Officer Derek Dalton The following nomination letter was written by Sergeant Roger Williams: Officer Derek Dalton was called to a concerned citizens complaint of an elderly disoriented woman walking on a deserted stretch of Redwood Road, at night, in the cold. Officer Dalton found the woman who stated she had just given up and was walking out to the desert to "just get away from it all." She stopped short of saying she was committing suicide but the inference was there. She had no money, no bedding, no food or water and she refused to go home. She had committed no crimes and did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health evaluation. We have limited resources available to house someone like this and Officer Dalton knew that a winter storm was quickly moving in. Officer Dalton offered counsel and eventually talked her into allowing him to pay for a hotel room for her for the night. Officer Dalton bought her a meal and checked her into a hotel with his own money. Sever

The following nomination letter was written by Tooele Police Chief Ron Kirby. Officer Tanya Turnbow has taken it upon herself to do all that she can in the area of suicide prevention. Officer Turnbow is constantly looking for opportunities to reach out with her prevention efforts in any way possible. She teaches QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) throughout the community. Her reach is extended by partnering with CTC (Communities That Care), the Health Department, the Tooele County School District, and others. Recently a man came to the Tooele City Council meeting and expressed a very emotional and heart-felt thank you for saving his son's life because of Tooele City's (i.e. Officer Turnbows) efforts in suicide prevention. I can get you his information and I am sure that he would be willing to do an interview. Officer Turnbow also serves as Tooele County's primary medical examiner responding to many suicides throughout the county. She often meets with family members following a suicide in her capacity as a medica

The following nomination letter was written by Melinda Greenwood, City Administrator for Pleasant View City: On Friday, April 15, my husband sent me a text regarding three of "my officers" saving an injured dog who was trapped in an empty canal. I later found out that Officer Brady Benson, Officer Robbie Done and Sergeant Corey Clark all participated in the effort of saving and befriending an injured dog. It was a job well done for all three officers! After receiving a call from workers about a dog stuck in the canal with a broken leg, Officer Brady Benson, Officer Robbie Done and Sergeant Corey Clark all responded to the scene. They were informed that the canal workers had attempted to get the dog out, but their attempts were unsuccessful as the dog would growl at them and not allow them near him. Our officers eventually found the dog, which was outside of Pleasant View City limits and into Box Elder County. When they saw the dog, without hesitation, Officer Benson jumped in to the canal and carefully approa

Officer Jason Harvey Aurora City Police Department The following nomination letter was written by Clint Johnson, City Recorder for Aurora City: Aurora City is a very small community in the Northern part of Sevier County. We have a very small, part time police department but that doesn't always mean that our problems are small or part-time. Officer Harvey works full time for Sevier County and then on his time off he works for Aurora City as the Police Chief. He has made it his goal to get to know every member of the community along with and especially the young people. He serves in the community working with teenage boys in an LDS Church calling and they look to him as an example. He has always been interested in their lives and is always just as excited as they are when they turn 16 and receive their driver's license. Many of these young people have grown up working on their family's farm so driving can begin at an early age but Officer Harvey is very conscientious about the rural setting and has been there o

The following nomination letter was written by Police Chief Lance Call of the American Fork Police Department: Officer Brain Morgan, an eleven year veteran of police service, was called to the home of the Davenport family about mid-day on April 7, 2016. Tyler Davenport reported to Officer Morgan that his two daughters, 5 year old Kimberly (Kimmie) and 10 year old Laura, had been outside jumping on the family trampoline with friends, when three Jr. High age boys walked by the house. One of the boys picked up Kimmie's brand new "Frozen" scooter and started riding off with it. The frantic girls yelled at the boys to leave the scooter but to no avail. Kimmie's scooter was gone. Kimmie was crestfallen. After gathering all the necessary information for the police report, Officer Morgan spent some time searching the neighborhood for the stolen scooter. It isn't uncommon that the thief of a bicycle or scooter will ride it for a couple of blocks or to their intended destination and then abandon it. In spite of his bes

A Utah officer polices the streets despite a terrifying incident in his first few months on the job that could have cut his career very short. On Dec. 13, 2012, officer Jared Jensen was four months into his service with the Sunset Police Department when he came face to face with a man who had a grudge. "It was a scary thing that you don't really expect to happen," he said. "I noticed this individual on the north side of the road, kind of giving me an odd stare," he explained. "He lifted up his sweatshirt and pulled a handgun from his waistband and continued to fire eight rounds into my vehicle." Several of those shots hit the vehicle's window, Jensen noted. "One hit our little plastic plexi-glass frame we have between our drivers seat and our cage. It's merely plexi-glass, however that day it stopped a bullet." "More progressed through the window, coming across my steering wheel and into the computer we have mounted over here," he continued. "I believe there were two in the computer, several glanced off the s

I would like to nominate our School Resource officer Cynthia Archuleta. She is known by the students at Hillcrest High School as Officer Archi. Det. Archuleta took over as the School Resource Officer just prior to the Canyons School District moving the 9th Grade students in the High School. This presented some very difficult challenges for her to try and help the school assimilate the new students into the high school system. She not only made the new students feel safe, she became their advocate in helping them to feel welcome. She works with the school administration on a regular basis and she always has their respect and appreciation. I am always hearing comments of praise from them about her work there. Just to name a few of her accomplishments at the school she serves as a volunteer para-educator coach for the girls softball team bringing not only talent development but development of each individual player to assure they are having fun playing the game with the team and learning the valuable lessons tha

Nominated by Police Chief Mike Brown:   "Sergeant Joe Cyr currently supervises the Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST) and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) for the Salt Lake City Police Department. Joe has a wide range of experience as a leader. Joe continually goes above and beyond in his role with the most marginalized members of our community. The homeless, drug addicted, and mentally ill struggle in many aspects of their lives. Joe has embraced the paradigm of officers attempting to solve the "root" problem as opposed to the symptoms. Joe has built extremely valuable relationships with many of homeless and knows them by name. Joe epitomizes the Henry Thoreau quote "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." As a police sergeant, Joe has a significant influence over newer officers. Joe, and his entire team, has made a difference to those in need and is a true asset to our Department and the community as a whole."See our website for privacy information.

Below is the nomination, which comes from a letter given to Trooper Craig Youngberg from his Sergeant.   To: Trooper Craig Youngberg From: Sergeant Brandon Whitehead It came to my attention that you responded to the report of a multi-vehicle accident in the westbound lanes of I-84 near Taggart’s during the evening hours of March 3, 2016. The rest of your crew was tied up on a semi crash that was blocking nearly the entire southbound interstate of I-15 including the on ramp from 24th Street. Without hesitation, you responded to the multi-vehicle crash once the scene was controlled for the semi crash. During the night it had been raining hard and the mountain side had become saturated with water. Several rocks of various size had rolled down off the mountainous outcrop and landed in the travel lanes of I-84. You took care of business and filled out the required paperwork, getting all but one motorist on their way. The particular vehicle which was not able to get on its way was occupied by a young Hispanic coupl

Trooper Justin Hansen was nominated by Keith Squires, Utah's Commissioner of Public Safety, who wrote the following letter: "The intention of this email is to explain (or attempt to explain) why I think Justin Hansen is a great asset to the Department of Public Safety but especially to the Aero Bureau. I will list a couple of bullet points or characteristic traits and give a few examples and stories about him: - Dedication and commitment - It is not always as easy and glamorous to be a TFO as people think. There are many late night call outs that result in long hours. The TFO position is a secondary assignment with a very high knowledge and efficiency requirement and in order to maintain that knowledge and efficiency there is a lot of training required. It also requires a lot of the TFO's own time to be proficient at the various tools. Justin has shown a very high interest level and a strong desire to be the best he can be, often calling me in the evening or early morning just to discuss an idea that he had t