Kane chiefs to honor Officer of the Year Thursday
The Kane County Chiefs of Police Association will name the 2009 Kane County Police Officer of the Year at a banquet Thursday night at Lincoln Inn, 1345 S. Batavia Ave., Batavia.
The ceremony follows the dinner, which starts at 7 p.m. Reservations for the dinner are closed, but the public can watch the ceremony. The award is co-sponsored by the Batavia Moose Lodge.
This 32nd annual event honors law enforcement officers in towns and agencies throughout Kane County who have been nominated for acts of valor, exceptional courage, humanitarian efforts, outstanding examples of good law enforcement or continuing education and achievement from the previous year.
The Louis F. Spuhler Memorial Award is named for the Kane County sheriff's deputy and Batavia Moose member who suggested bestowing the award. He died before the first award was given out, and the association and the Moose decided to honor him by naming the award after him.
The nominees are:
Officers Rob Schuett and Brian Siegfort of the Algonquin Police Department; investigators Steven Stemmet and Thomas Maguire, and Officers Laura Kolanowski, Ryan Tinsley and Christopher Bosson of the Aurora Police Department; Sgt. Dan Eul and Officers Tom Doggett and Emil Jensen of the Batavia Police Department; Officers Edward Acot and Eric Holzer of the Carpentersville Police Department; and Deputy Chief Mark D. Hinchy of the Elgin Community College Police Department.
Other nominees are Detective David W. Lesko of the Elgin Police Department; Sgt. Branden Gentry of the Kane County Sheriff's Department; Detective Sgt. Gregory P. Sullivan and Officer Armando Sanders of the Montgomery Police Department; Detective Brian Polkinghorn of the South Elgin Police Department; and Officer James Burden and Inspector Charles Pierce of the St. Charles Police Department.
F. Keith Brown, chief judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit, will serve as the keynote speaker.