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Officer Schwartz, Officer of the First Quarter

The Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee selected Officer Schwartz as the officer of the first quarter of 2007. Officer Schwartz demonstrated performance above and beyond that which is routinely expected. Officer Schwart was nominated by Sergeant Stroeher.

During the first quarter, Officer Schwartz worked a complicated private property hit and run accident in which a vehicle owner had loaned his car out and it was subsequently wrecked. Officer Schwartz worked with the vehicle owner to contact the driver and get his statement. The investigation revealed that the man had already exchanged information with the other driver. It seemed that the owner of the car wanted the driver arrested and was willing to hide certain information from Officer Schwartz in order to make it happen. Officer Schwartz did a great job sorting it all out and no charges were filed against the driver.

Also in January, Officer Schwartz did a great job with a very upset teen who did not want to attend school. Lieutenant Bill McClintick was impressed with his patience and professionalism.

In February, Officer Schwartz teamed with Sergeant Stroeher to work a child abuse case where two teens were eventually removed from the household. He was already working overtime on his short day and did not hesitate to take this case and run with it, which resulted in even more overtime.

In March, Officer Schwartz performed excellent work when he was involved in a vehicle pursuit on Galvin and Fort Crook Road. The driver fled after being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. Speeds quickly reached an estimated 80 mph, at which point the driver crashed his car at Fort Crook and Childs and fled on foot. Officers Schwartz and Sindelar apprehended the suspect in the No Frills parking lot. The car he’d been driving, a 2007 Nissan Altima, was totaled. It was determined that the Altima was stolen out of Omaha, though it had not yet been reported stolen. The suspect was wanted on felony drug warrants in Iowa and was charged with, among other things, Theft by Receiving, Flight to Avoid Arrest and Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID).

In April, while doing self-initiated warrant checks, Officer Schwartz came across a difficult situation. He located a person wanted by the Sheriff’s Office on a misdemeanor warrant and learned that this person is severely handicapped and confined to a wheelchair. By talking with family members, Officer Schwartz learned that the handicapped person had recently been the victim of identity theft and was, most likely, not responsible for the incident which led to the warrant. Officer Schwartz demonstrated good judgement and decided not to place the person under arrest, but to coordinate with the Sheriff’s Department and the family to resolve the problem.

Honorable Mentions
2007 Officer of the First Quarter

Those officers receiving honorable mention were Officers Brown and Chizek, Sergent Tom Dargy and Lieutent Chuck Clark.

Officer Brown was commended for officer initiated activity that is consistently at, or above his peers in all areas. Officer Brown balances his time with aggressive traffic enforcement and pays special attention to problem areas within his district.

In January, Brown responded to assist other units at 1709 Pelton Ave. at a structure fire. Officers forced entry into the residence, woke the occupants and removed them from the residence.

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 residence extremely dirty with children living in the residence. Brown initiated a case report and conducted the follow-up.

Early in March, Brown was commended on his handling of an interdiction stop which led to the seizure of 22 grams of crack cocaine.

In the same month, Brown was commended by the Special Investigations Unit 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.

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.

Sergeant Tom Dargy and Officer Chizek were commended for their work when a man armed with a handgun that attempted a car jacking in the Baker’s parking lot. The female owner ran back inside the store and reported the crime and that the suspect ran southbound. Dargy and Chizek responded and searched south of Bakers. They saw a man walking south on Fairfax who matched the description. When officers approached, the suspect ran. After a foot pursuit, Dargy arrested the suspect. A plastic replica gun was recovered.

Lieutenant Chuck Clark was commended for his work. A resident called in a theft from a motor vehicle which had just occurred, providing a description and plate number of the suspect vehicle. Clark waited for the vehicle at the registered owner’s address and detained three young people in the car when it arrived. Officers came to the location to identify property stolen from the reporting person's car. Two of the suspects were brothers, ages 17 and 15 who lived at the house. The third was the girlfriend of the 17 year old. Officers spoke to the mother of the boys and gained her cooperation. She consented to a search of her boys’ bedrooms and the car to recover stolen property. Officers looked through the garage windows and saw other car stereo equipment. More stolen property was seized from the garage. Lieutenant Clark worked with the Criminal Investigations Bureau for several days on his own time to find owners of the property.