About 15 Jefferson City Police Department personnel earned awards at the recent fifth annual Jefferson City Police Foundation awards banquet.
Several officers had been shot at and some suffered injuries while arresting suspects. The awards presentation is personal for Jefferson City police chief Eric Wilde, who tells 939 the Eagle it’s important for you to hear the details of what these officers face:
“I just don’t want a lot of the fine details to get lost in the clutter. Because some of the things that our officers are doing out there everyday are so heroic and they deserve to have people recognize that and understand the depth of that heroism,” Chief Wilde says.
Jefferson City police officer Jeremy Church is one of several officers who earned the medal of honor at the recent awards banquet. Chief Wilde tells 939 the Eagle that Officer Church had finished his shift when he heard a call on the radio and ran into a burning house to save a man:
“That officer was on his way home. We have take-home cars and he could have easily have just skipped that call, went on home and went to bed after a midnight shift but he turned around and went to where somebody was in need and he helped him,” says Wilde.
Chief Wilde says that’s the type of officer you want working for you: someone with a sense of selflessness. Jefferson City Police Sergeant Collier Nichols and Officers Jarod Phelps, Sayden Stone, Paul Gash and Jason Sederwall also earned the medal of honor from Chief Wilde.
Officers Dawson Payne and Dakota Brewer and former Officer Jerry “Scotty” Smith earned the medal of valor. Officers Phelps and Ronald Smith earned the Purple Heart. Officers Nathan Hartline and James Wehmeyer earned the commendation certificate, while Officer Jason Thomas and communications supervisors Meagan Schlitt and Ashley Schepers earned a 20-year service award.
The recent awards banquet and dinner raised about $15,000 to $20,000. Chief Wilde says all proceeds will fund things Jefferson City’s strained budget cannot buy for them.
What is means: 15 Jefferson City Police Department personnel earned awards at the recent fifth annual Jefferson City Police Foundation awards banquet.