Gurnee honors police officers who are top in DUI, overall traffic enforcement

Eleven of Gurnee's finest have been lauded for their work in drunken-driving arrests and other aspects of traffic enforcement.

Village board members, Police Chief Kevin Woodside and Mayor Kristina Kovarik hailed the officers at a meeting Monday night.

The DUI and Traffic Enforcement Awards recognized work for the 2014 calendar year.

Kovarik explained what she sees as the importance of the awards before the 11 officers arrived at village hall.

"It's impossible to measure the value because it's preventive and it takes a lot of time and effort by officers to spot (violators), to do the arrests, the prosecution and all that," she said.

"When you think of the lives that it saves for every DUI that they pull over and stop, I always realize that's probably somebody's life they saved that night. Could be a whole family."

Officer Michael Stoner was the sole recipient of the DUI Enforcement Award. It was the first time he was honored as Gurnee's top cop for DUI arrests. Woodside said Stoner, who also received the general Traffic Enforcement Award, recorded 26 DUI arrests.

An officer must make a minimum of 20 arrests to be considered for Gurnee's DUI Enforcement Award.

Last year, officer J.R. Nauseda received his sixth DUI Enforcement Award with 26 arrests. Officer James Caldwell III also received a DUI Award for making 22 arrests in the 2013 calendar year.

To receive the Traffic Enforcement Award, said Woodside, a cop must rank in the top 25 percent in speed and seat belt enforcement. The recipients were officers Matthew Bendler, Benjamin Bozer, Martin DePerte, Timothy Hamann, Kelly Hansen, Derek Kay, Robert Lietz, Christopher Lindahl, Richard Vorpagel III and Thomas Yencich.

Separately, Woodside launched the Four Pillar Awards in November to highlight employees who exemplify the police department's mission. The honors were for crime prevention, community impact, crime response and team building.

While the Four Pillar Awards will be presented annually, the congratulations recognize career achievements.

Gurnee also holds a public ceremony for police officer of the year and civilian employee of the year.