17 in running for Kane Co. police officer of the year award

It's officially awards season in the Kane County law enforcement community.

This week, the Kane County Chiefs of Police Association and Batavia Moose Lodge 682 will name the 33rd Annual Police Officer of the Year.

Seventeen police officers from across the Fox Valley have been nominated for a variety of good works, from taking drugs off the street to catching a serial bank robber and saving numerous lives.

Illinois State Police Director Jonathon Monken will be keynote speaker at a 7 p.m. ceremony Thursday at Lincoln Inn Banquets, 1345 S. Batavia Ave. in Batavia, where the winner will be announced.

This year's nominees are: Algonquin officers Thomas Murray and Deborah Scott; Aurora officers Michael Nilles, Sgt. Thomas Hinterlong and David Fukutake; Carpentersville officer Sean Bennett; Elgin Detective Scott St. John; Elgin Community College officers Lorie Hermesdorf and Theodore Vernon Jr.; Geneva officer Sarah Sullivan; Huntley officer Justin Harper and Sgt. Leonard Marak; Illinois State Police District 15 Trooper Timothy Neer; Kane County sheriff's Sgts. Eric Fisher and Craig Campbell; and South Elgin Detective Mike Doty and officer Bryan Kmieciak.

Stay tuned.

Speaking of awards: An Aurora police officer was honored last week for saving the life of a 20-day-old girl.

Anikka Molitor said any of her colleagues would have acted just as heroically.

"The Aurora Police Department is filled with excellent officers, and I'm sure that any one of them would have done the same thing," said Molitor, a three-year veteran who was named the Aurora Exchange Club's 2009 Officer of the Year at a luncheon last week.

Police said Molitor earned the praise of doctors and paramedics on April 10, 2009, when she used CPR to revive an infant who wasn't breathing. The child, who was later airlifted to a suburban hospital for further treatment, celebrated her first birthday in March, authorities said.

Also honored by the Exchange Club were nominees Damien Cantona, a special operations group investigator who led several successful investigations, and Detective Jeremiah Shufelt, who solved an armed robbery case.

Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas said deciding a winner was no easy task for him and the Exchange Club.

"There are so many acts of valor and lifesaving throughout every year," he said.

William Lawler, who is a former Aurora police chief and the current director of the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, added that the three nominations demonstrated "the best visible examples of why the Aurora Police Department is the best police department in the state of Illinois."