TRAVERSE CITY — Implementing body cameras, circumventing an attempted suicide, rescuing a neighbor from a drugged knifing and saving someone from an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning — another year is in the books for the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office.
Last week in the Grand Traverse County Commission Chambers Room, three rows of police officers sat in uniform, separated by an aisle. In the center of the room was a table, draped in blue table cloth, arrayed with various awards and plaques, including a Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office baseball cap atop one award.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley presented awards at the annual ceremony, like the 2021 Employees of the Year for Law Enforcement for both the Corrections and Law Enforcement Divisions, Awards of Merit, Life Saving Award and Citizens’ Award of Valor.
“I mentioned it earlier: our greatest asset are people who work at the sheriff’s office. We need to recognize them and appreciate them for the work they do day in and day out,” Bensley said.
Lieutenant Chris Osse, who was honored for his 27 years at the department before his retirement in April, was given an Award of Merit for his work on selecting and implementing body-worn cameras for the Sheriff’s Office in 2021.
“It’s just an award for the hard work that me and my team did to get these body cameras implemented and successful. It’s a good sense of accomplishment,” Osse said about the award.
Deputy Felipe A. Martinez, Jr. was given an Award of Merit for his work on June 8 for distracting and calming down a suicidal woman, who had cut her arm with a razor and was holding a knife to her throat when police arrived, by getting her some ice cream from a passing ice cream truck. Because of this, she allowed Martinez to remove the knife from her hand and was able to receive treatment.
A coordinated team of officers who worked together — Sgt. Luke McManus, Deputy Spencer Bishop, Deputy Isaac Herald, Deputy Mitchell Hoffman, Deputy Kyle Rosa and Deputy Dustin Stickler — were given Awards of Merit for their work on a May 4 case where a man , a Garfield Township resident’s girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, posed as a pizza delivery driver, pulled a loaded handgun on the resident and forced him to drink alcohol laced with sleeping medication.
The man then staged a crime scene and cut the resident’s wrist; but, the resident awoke as his wrist was being cut and fought off the other man, getting the knife away from him and fleeing his apartment.
The Citizens’ Award of Valor went to Jared Preston for rescuing the resident after he fled his apartment. When Preston heard yelling and loud knocking on his door, he found the resident in the hallway pleading for help and let him into his apartment, where he called 9-1-1 and treated his wounds until deputies arrived.
Deputy Michael Gray also received the Grand Traverse Life Saving award for a welfare check he did on Feb. 21 in Garfield Township, whereby he saved a man from carbon monoxide poisoning, which was coming from a propane heater in his living room, by opening a door to let fresh air in.
Danica Makowski
The 2021 Employee of the Year Award for the Corrections Division went to Deputy Danica Makowski, who was honored for going above and beyond in her four and a half years as a corrections officer.
“I guess it just shows how hard work pays off in a not always well-perceived job or rewarding job. It’s nice to be recognized,” Makowski said.
Roy Raska
Sgt. Roy Raska was the 2021 Employee of the Year in Law Enforcement for his behind-the-scenes work as a field training supervisor, which involves selecting, training and outfitting new Sheriff’s Office employees, fleet manager, which involves maintaining the department’s fleet of over 80 police vehicles, and quartermaster, which involves equipping uniforms for patrol officers, including body-worn cameras.
“I think, with our department, we’re still attracting good people and that’s the big — you know, we have good administration, good supervisors and I think that’s part of the reason we’re able to attract new people,” Raska said .
Other awards included: 2021 Top Shots, presented to Detective Michael Matteucci and Corrections Officer Nathanael Roberts for being at the top of their class in their respective training exercises; 2021 MADD Awards presented to Deputies Issac Herald, Mitchell Hoffman and Jordan Query for making more than 25 drunk-driving arrests in one year; and the StopStick Award, presented to Deputy Amanda Peck for successfully using StopSticks to stop a vehicle at Chums Corner.
Jimmy Argyle
There were also acknowledgments of officers given by citizens and supervisors, as well as recognition for years of service in law enforcement. Sgt. Jimmy Argyle was also promoted to Lieutenant within the Corrections Division in November 2021, according to an email sent from the Sheriff’s office after the event.
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