American Legion post recognizes Elgin police, firefighter

Elgin police detective Heather Robinson is being recognized for her work in a homicide arrest, and Elgin firefighter Anthony McMeel is being recognized for pushing the fire department to buy an automated CPR device.

Robinson and McMeel are this year's recipients of the annual awards from American Legion Post 57 in Elgin, which go to a firefighter and police officer "who display high levels of personal and professional achievement," a news release said.

The public is invited to the recognition ceremony at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the post, 820 N. Liberty St. The nominees are selected by the police and fire chiefs.

Robinson, a 14-year veteran of the police department, was the lead detective in the October homicide of 76-year-old Gail Peck, whose son, Brian, was charged with the crime.

"From beginning to end, there were several moving parts to the investigation that had to be balanced and coordinated," the release said. "The incident quickly moved from a missing person case to a homicide. As the lead detective, Detective Robinson was responsible for the coordination of resources, providing investigation direction, communicating information to all involved, as well as providing an empathetic ear to friends and family of Ms. Peck."

McMeel, a 5-year veteran of the fire department, spearheaded the project to buy LUCAS automated CPR devices, which helped the fire department nearly double its resuscitation success, recent data showed.

"He had a project in mind that he knew would be a tremendous task to deploy but would save countless lives while reducing injuries to firefighters. Anthony did all of the field research, data collection, field analysis calculations, cost analysis, education, and deployment of the LUCAS device," the release said.