December 2009:  On the morning of 12/09/09 a co-worker & I saw a person stuck in the snow right out side of Municipal Court.  As we were helping push the gentlemen out, Officer Tonniges came over and helped us.  Even though there were other officers in the area, he was the one to come over and offer to help. I believe Officer Tonniges showed compassion and his willingness to help anyone in need. I truly believe Officer Tonniges is deserving of a Salute and I would like to say Thank you!

December 2009:  During the snowstorm on Dec 7, 2009, Ofcr Bigham encountered a stranded motorist and her small child near the intersection of Ohio and Belmont.  Ofcr Bigham was off-duty.  She stopped to render aid and parked behind the disabled car with her hazard flashers on. Ofcr Bigham waited for quite some time until Ofcr Blackwell arrived, also off-duty.  These officers allowed the woman and her son to stay warm inside their personal vehicles.  When the woman's insurance agent refused to honor their disabled motorist policy, Ofcr Blackwell was able to jump-start the woman's car for her.  Ofcr Blackwell then followed the woman home to ensure she made it safely and to be available if she needed another jump-start.  Both of these off-duty officers volunteered their time, gas, and personal vehicles to help a stranded woman and child and exemplify the spirit of giving and sacrifice.  They bring great credit upon themselves, the PD, and the FOP.

November 2009: On Nov 1, 2009, Dispatcher Ewing received a call of a possibly suicidal man wanting to jump off of a building near the hospital.  Due to a close similarity in names, a misunderstanding could have potentially arisen involving another man who was already being treated in the emergency room.  By paying close attention to detail, Dispatcher Ewing averted a potentially tragic situation.

November 2009:  A citizen called the department to advise he recently had an encounter with two of our officers due to his current mental state and some poor choices.  He advised that Officer G. Jones and Officer Wentz both did a good job of handling a difficult situation.  He advised that Officer Wentz was exceptionally professional and respectful during his contact, successfully talking the citizen out of a bad situation.  He wanted to pass this along to their superiors

August 2009: On 08262009, Officer Carswell received a phone call from a canine handler in Newton, KS, alerting him to some robbery suspects who were believed to be headed towards Salina.  Ofcr Carswell took the time beforehand to establish rapport with officers from other agencies and created an informal peer network, ensuring critical information would be delivered in a timely manner even if traditional means of communication failed.  Ofcr Carswell notified Salina officers of the information, and Investigators Feldman and Furbeck began to search the businesses along I-135.  They quickly located the vehicle, a car reportedly stolen from Alabama, at a local convenience store.  Ofcr Furbeck handled radio traffic very well, directing other officers to points on a perimeter while Inv Feldman maintained surveillance on the car and the store.  Once officers from both second shift and third shift had arrived and a perimeter had been established, Inv Furbeck and Inv Feldman entered the convenience store along with a uniformed officer and apprehended three suspects without incident.  The suspects were believed to have committed a string of burglaries, arsons, and over a dozen armed robberies in four states over a span of three days.  A 9mm handgun, cash, and a stolen car, among other items, were recovered.  During a subsequent interview by Newton PD, the suspects admitted they had intended to commit an armed robbery at the Salina store, and were actually inside the store in the preparatory stages of the robbery when they were intercepted.  Thanks to their foresight, effective communications under stressful conditions, and their ability to think and act quickly in a dynamic situation, these officers and investigators were able to quickly neutralize an extremely dangerous public threat.

MAY 2009:  On May 27th, at approximately 0135, Officers were sent to 864 Navajo for a reported aggravated robbery. The suspects were identified and a suspect vehicle was given. At approximately 0730, MPO Rupert and Officer Tim Brown drove by 904 Osage and observed the suspect vehicle parked in the drive. The officers parked south of the location and requested backup. One of the suspects exited the residence and observed the officers. The suspect ran back inside the house. MPO Rupert and Officer Tim Brown quickly responded to the house and covered the front and back areas of it. MPO Rupert attempted to make contact but did not get any response. MPO Mangels, MPO Plank, Officer Krenowicz, Officer Venables and Officer Urban arrived on scene and quickly set up a perimeter. Five subjects, to include two of the suspects, were taken in to custody.

Dispatchers Haaga and Fuller kept Lt. Shaft and other officers apprised of the situation. All non-emergency radio traffic was moved to channel 2 without any disruptions. The dispatchers, with the assistance of Lt. Pruitt made everything run smoothly and flawlessly, as they not only had to deal with this situation, but a major power outage, an attempted murder in the county and other calls for service.

All of the officers that were involved in this case used good officer safety, communicated well with each other and were very professional. I would like to commend all of the officers and dispatchers for the excellent job done during this situation.

APRIL 2009:  In October of 2008, Officer Brown took five Forgery reports.  The suspect had printed checks with several different false names, addresses and account numbers and passed them at several Salina businesses.  Officer Brown obtained video surveillance footage of the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle from the business.  Over the course of the next several months, Officer Brown continued to look for the suspect’s vehicle.  On April 2, 2009, Officer Brown located the vehicle and the suspect.  Due to Officer Brown’s diligence and hard work, the suspect was arrested and the cases were cleared.

December 2008:  On December 6th, 2008, several officers and civilian personnel from the Salina Police Department participated in the annual Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign. Personnel volunteered their time to ring the Salvation Army bell at the Central Mall in order to receive donations for the needy in our community. This year our efforts brought in $502.37 in donations in 8 hours. Our personnel deserve a salute for giving back to the community and special recognition should go to MPO Plank for organizing this year’s event.  Participants included:  MPO A.V. Plank, Off. Chris McFadden, Lt. Sean Morton, D.C. Mike Marshall, Chief James Hill, Lt. Bill Cox, Kim Vincent, Carrie Pruter, Lt. Scott Siemsen, Capt. Mike Sweeney, Surina Chumsena, Off. Chris Endreshak, Off. James Blackwell

September 2008:  While at a sporting event in Lindsborg, Kansas, Officer Chris Gregg witnessed a gentleman having a heart attack. The gentleman was unconscious when Officer Gregg started CPR. Officer Gregg performed one man CPR for over 5 minutes until EMS arrived. Once EMS arrived, Officer Gregg continued with the rescue breaths while EMS did chest compressions. Officer Gregg also rode with the ambulance to the Lindsborg hospital to assist if needed. The man was revived and later transported to the SRHC. Officer Gregg's actions should be commended for saving a man's life.

August 2008:  On 08132008 Officer Zeigler suffered a broken ankle while placing an intoxicated and combative subject under arrest. Following the injury Lt. Salzman accompanied Officer Zeigler to the ER where he remained with Officer Zeigler until his family could respond. Lt. Salzman then assisted Officer Zeigler with all the required paperwork in order to expedite Officer Zeigler's return home to begin recovery.  Officers Grover, Londono, VanCoevern and Orton all donated time from their personal lives to spend time with Officer Zeigler and to assist with chores at his residence while he was recovering.  All these officers went above and beyond the duties set forth by the Salina Police Department, and all should be commended for their actions.

July 2008:  On July 17, 2008, Officer Bigham was assigned a forgery case from a local bank in Salina. During the course of the investigation, Officer Bigham identified a possible suspect. She put together a photo line-up of the suspect and showed it to all of the victims and businesses involved. She identified the suspect and vigorously searched for her. After several days, Officer Bigham located the suspect and arrested her. Officer Bigham interviewed the suspect and cleared 50 forgeries and 25 theft cases. Officer Bigham should be commended for the excellent job she did during this investigation.

June 2008:  In the early morning hours of June 28, 2008, Officers Chambers and Soldan were dispatched to an east Salina residence for a report of a man armed with a knife who wanted to commit "suicide by cop". The man held the knife to his throat and told officers to shoot him. Officers Chambers and Soldan talked to the man and eventually convinced him to reposition the knife. Once they were confident he would not be harmed by falling onto the knife, Officer Chambers subdued the man with a Taser. By using good police tactics and communications skills, a potentially lethal situation was averted.

June 2008:   During the month of June 2008 the following officers went above and beyond their normal daily duties to track down and make 266 arrests on warrants. This is up from 31 arrests made in June of 2007. Thank you for all of your efforts and hard work in making these arrests. GREAT JOB!!!!  MPOs Rupert & Mangels; Officers Orton, Gregg, Kohman, Ortiz, Moreland, Londono, Chambers, T. Brown, Garcia, Gawith, Venables, Endreshak, Peterman, G. Huen, Zeigler, Galbrecht,  C. Huen, VanCoevern, Blackwell, Bigham, Tonniges, McFadden