Gurnee’s top DUI, traffic enforcement cops honored in ceremony

Ten Gurnee officers were honored Monday for their prowess in drunken driving arrests and other areas of traffic enforcement.

Monday’s village board meeting featured the annual police awards, one of two evenings typically set aside to give public kudos to Gurnee’s finest. The other ceremony is for police officer of the year and civilian employee of the year.

Gurnee Police Chief Kevin Woodside noted the important of the recognition.

“These (awards) are for the officers that have put forth the extra effort in the area of traffic enforcement,” Woodside said. “And that’s not for writing tickets. These are for tickets that were issued for the offenses that cause accidents or increase the likelihood of injuries in accidents. They basically fall into three categories: booze, belts and speed. DUI arrests, speeding offenses and passenger safety offenses.”

Officer J.R. Nauseda was the first to be recognized for making the most driving under the influence of alcohol arrests in 2012. He received a bouquet of flowers from Cathy Stanley, court watch director for Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, for the Gurnee police DUI Enforcement Award.

Nauseda made 22 DUI arrests. Nauseda, who led the way with 27 drunken driving arrests in Gurnee in 2011, has been honored four times for his efforts to combat drunken driving.

Other officers were recognized for their DUI work since January 2001 and received special pins for the Illinois Department of Transportation. David Bertaud and Daniel Pacheco received 50-DUI pins, while Brian Funke got a 25-DUI pin.

Nauseda and Bertaud also were lauded for being leaders in traffic citations for passenger-restraint and speed enforcement duties. The other cops who were praised for their work and given a Traffic Enforcement Award were William Stashkiw, Mark Gilva, Dana Dingman, Richard Vorpagel III, James Lazaro and James Caldwell III.