Ocean City Today
PAGE 6
JANUARY 10, 2014
Runkles, others honored at OCPD banquet By Nancy Powell Staff Writer (Jan. 10, 2014) A K-9 officer was honored Tuesday night as the 2013 Neighborhoood Watch Officer of the Year for the Ocean City Police Department. The banquet was delayed nearly 30 minutes because of a burst pipe on the west side of the building. Attendees waited downstairs in the lobby before the fire marshal declared the event could proceed. And proceed it did, although it was noticeably chilly in the grand ballroom where the banquet was held. Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said it was a great evening and thanked the fire marshal for allowing it to proceed. “Life truly is better at the beach, even in the coldest weather,� Buzzuro said. “If tonight, an officer tells a suspect to freeze, he would.� The night’s big winner, Cpl. James Runkles said he was very honored to receive the award, “but I can’t take full credit for it.� He asked the other police officers in the grand ballroom at the Ocean City convention center to stand and be recognized as well. “They deserve this award just as much as I do,� Runkles said. Runkles, a former Marine who has been a K-9 officer since joining the Ocean City Police Department in 2007, has been instrumental in the
James Runkles
seizure of narcotics, weapons and suspects with his K-9 partner, Breki. Other candidates for Officer of the Year were Lt. Scott Harner, Cpl. Allen Hawk, Officer Daniel McBride and Lt. Mark Pacini. Lt. Harner, a full-time officer since 1998, serves multiple roles within the department. Among other duties, he is the special events coordinator, planning and research coordinator for special projects and commander of the Traffic Safety Unit. Cpl. Hawk, a full-time officer since 2002,works the evening shift in the Patrol Division. He has been a member of the K-9 Unit, the Traffic Safety Unit and the Bike Patrol Unit. Officer Daniel McBride has been busy since being hired full time in
January 2012. In 2013, he had more than 89 physical arrests and 49 criminal citations. Lt. Mark Pacini, a full-time officer since 1991, is commander of the evening watch of the Patrol Division, but has served in many capacities during his years with the police department. He enjoys mentoring new officers and up and coming supervisors. The area coordinators of the eight Neighborhood Watch groups in Ocean City selected the Officer of the Year. Several other members of the police department were also honored during the banquet. Unit citations were presented to the Honor Guard and Casket/Vigil Teams for their involvement with the funerals of Joshua Adickes and Thomas Geoghegan, who were killed June 30 when Geoghegan’s private two-seater plane crashed into the ocean last summer. The Narcotics Unit was honored for obtaining intelligence information about a heroin addict who was planning an armed robbery. Special commendations were presented to Officer Trevor Greenawalt, who performed CPR, which helped save a victim’s life. Pfc. Lee Arlington and Officer Jennifer Smithhart were also recognized for performing CPR and saving a life. Three citizens, Steven Sanders,
James Donahue II and Eric Morris, were recognized for their bravery in rendering assistance to police in the apprehension of suspects involved in a armed robbery where gunshots were fired at the victim. Dfc. David Whitmer received the Meritorious Service award for his work during an investigation into theft and fraud involving approximately $1 million of money and assets stolen from an elderly person. In addition to identifying and apprehending the suspect, Dfc. Whitmer recovered $750,000 of the victim’s money and other assets. Numerous members of the police department, Pfc. Michael Kelly, Lt. Scott Harner, Lt. Elton Harmon, Pfc. Michael Karsnitz, Pfc. Kevin Flower, Pfc. Vicki Martin, Pfc. Daniel Jacobs, Pfc. Ryan Flanagan, Officer Chris Wrench, Cpl. Allen Hawk, Officer Josiah Fry, Sgt. Shawn Jones, Dfc. Carl Perry, Officer Jennifer Smithhart, Dfc. Gregory Eastman and Public Safety Aide Michael Short and Cliff Christello of the Fire Marshal’s Office received awards for excellent performance. The evening also included the lighting of a memorial candle in memory of Adickes, Geoghegan, Animal Control Officer Donald Spence and members of Neighborhood Watch who passed away during the past year.
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