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Officer of the Year

Each year, in December, the Bellevue Police Department evaluates the accomplishments of its officers who have demonstrated exemplary performance during the current year and selects one officer who stands out as having distinguished him or herself beyond the norm. This individual is usually, but not always, selected from among the Officers of the Quarter. This officer is announced and acknowledged at the annual banquet early in the next calendar year.

Scroll down to read about the current Officer of the Year. Explore the links on the left to learn about BPD's Officers of the Year back to 1988.

2007 Officer of the Year

Officer Brown was nominated as Officer of the Year 2007 by Lieutenant Chuck Clark.

In many important incidents and daily activities throughout the year, Officer Brown has demonstrated his outstanding initiative, decision-making ability, work ethic, and street knowledge. Officer Brown has been commended for his officer initiated activity that is consistently at or above his peers in all areas. Officer Brown balances his time between aggressive traffic enforcement and special attention to problem areas within his district. This has resulted in arrests for both serious traffic offenses as well as crimes in progress.

Brown is a Field Training Officer and is very active in training our recruits. He serves as a Drug Recognition Expert and makes DUI arrests. Officer Brown is a member of our SWAT Team and serves as its chemical munitions officer.

He is a competent senior officer that the rest of the shift respects. He assists his fellow shift officers at work as he handles calls with them, and off duty as he builds social networks that help support those officers and their families.

In January, Officer Brown responded to assist other units at a house fire on Pelton Avenue. The officers found a working structure fire on the rear of the residence. Officers forced entry into the home, woke the occupants, and removed them from the house. Officer Brown and the other officers were commended for their bravery and dedication to the safety of the public.

A few days later, Brown responded to a possible burglary-in-progress call which was determined to be unfounded. Once inside the residence Brown found the home extremely dirty with children living in the house. Brown initiated a case report and conducted the follow-up. As a result of his actions and detailed report, the Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) did not have to follow-up with the case, and Health and Human Services felt the incident was appropriately handled. The Children's Protective Services supervisor commended Officer Brown for his handling of the case and commented on Brown’s sound decision-making.

In March, Officer Brown was commended on his handling of an interdiction stop which led to the seizure of 22 grams of crack cocaine. Brown developed probable cause to believe the female suspect was concealing drugs, and was able to convince her to give them up. Due to the large amount of drugs, the woman was charged federally. Brown was commended on his initiative, recognition of drug concealment containers located during the stop, and knowledge of proper search and seizure procedures.

In the same month, Brown was commended by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) supervisor and a Drug Investigator for his willingness to assist their unit whenever needed. In particular, Brown was able to locate a suspect vehicle and identify the occupants during a traffic stop. SIU had made an undercover buy from the occupants but did not know the identity of the suspects. SIU stated that when they need something done right and Brown is working, he is their go-to-guy.

Also in March, Brown was commended by the shift commander, regarding his actions in assisting Omaha Police with a pursuit which ended with the three suspects abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot in the Chris Lake area. After two of the suspects were located, and several units began to leave the area, Brown was able to locate the third suspect hiding under some evergreen bushes. He ordered the suspect to show his hands and come out. After no compliance, Brown deployed a taser which resulted in the safe apprehension of the suspect. Brown was commended for his attention to detail and thoroughness in his search, and his decisiveness in his tactics while taking the suspect into custody.

In April, Officer Brown responded to a domestic violence call and acted to protect a female from an assault in progress. Officer Brown had been headed off-duty and the on-coming shift officers were making the response. Officer Brown responded anyway since he was the closest officer to the scene. Before any back-up could arrive, he could hear the female screaming and being strangled inside the trailer. He attempted entry into the residence to save her and thus drew the suspect outside and away from her. Officer Brown had to fight and subdue the suspect by himself and did so successfully. Brown was commended for his decisive action in making contact under extenuating circumstances which may have resulted in a life being saved, as well as for his fighting skills and "win" attitude which resulted in the arrest of the suspect.

In May, Officer Brown was among a group of officers who received letters of commendation and thanks from LaVista Police Chief Bob Lausten for their volunteer work setting up a defensive tactics training area in the basement of the LaVista Police station that can be used by officers from all Sarpy agencies. Brown is committed to improving his own defensive tactics skills and assisting and encouraging other officers to do the same.

In July, Officer Brown apprehended three young men who had been breaking into cars. Officer Brown was patrolling a business area around 3:30 in the morning and observed three males in their early twenties, who seemed out of place, walking along a frontage road. Upon being seen by Officer Brown, one began concealing something in his sweatshirt and another started to walk away. Brown grabbed him and directed all three to sit on the curb, as he called for other officers. One of the males gave consent for the search of his person, and Brown found a checkbook, credit cards, and other articles that did not belong to him. Brown had other officers verify that the items were stolen. Officer Brown was able to get two of the suspects to talk about their activities that night, and one agreed to ride in the police cruiser and point out the cars which they had broken into. One of the suspects had stolen a ballistic vest out of a car and had put it on underneath his sweatshirt. The amount of property recovered was at the felony level. Brown was commended for his initiative and attention to duty, his ability to gain the cooperation of the arrested men, and his leadership in directing other officers in the follow-up.

In August, Officer Brown went on a rescue call for an adult female who was not taking her mental health medications. The woman was acting strangely and at first refused officers entry into her home. Officer Brown exercised great compassion and patience and talked her into allowing the BVFD rescue squad to transport her to the hospital for treatment.

In November, Officer Brown assisted at a home invasion/assault call. Brown sought permission to assist on this north area call from his south district. Once there, he directed other officers and passed on information that one homeowner may have been assaulted and possibly unconscious inside the residence. Brown was concerned and asked permission to force entry. Brown made a very competent decision after all other means of entry failed and attempts to contact anyone with knowledge of the homeowner yielded no results. Brown again displayed his knowledge of procedure and overall job experience.

In November, Officer Brown again volunteered to assist with a call out of his precinct when he was closer than the dispatched car. He and fellow officers found a vehicle running, in gear, with the driver passed out. Attempts made to rouse the driver were unsuccessful. Brown and fellow officers blocked the wheels with paving stones. Brown decided that for the welfare of the driver and safety of others in reference to the vehicle, forced entry into the vehicle should occur. Brown asked for permission which was granted by the sergeant. The driver was taken into custody for DUI without further incident. Brown was commended for his good judgment.

In December, Officer Brown investigated a sexual assault of a twenty-year-old woman that occurred at a party. The woman had too much to drink to drive home and decided to sleep at the house. Someone at the party entered the bedroom and sexually assaulted her while she slept, but the assault was interrupted by other party-goers. The victim was assisted by friends in making the report to Officer Brown. Officer Brown worked six hours past the end of his shift in order to collect evidence, complete interviews of witnesses, and then confront the suspect. Officer Brown was able to gain admissions from the suspect about some of his behavior, which will help greatly with the prosecution. Officer Brown was commended for his investigative skills and compassion for the victim.