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Officer J Brazda, 1999 Officer of the Year

Officer J Brazda was selected as the 1999 Officer of the Year. From January through May, Officer Brazda was assigned to the Uniform Patrol Bureau on one of the night shifts. His sergeant described him as a highly trained, experienced, and dedicated officer who consistently set a high standard of productivity for his team, while being well-liked by the public and his fellow officers. He was especially respected by his peers for his field tactics and officer safety skills.

In June, Officer Brazda was transferred to the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Unit at the request of its new sergeant. Among his other duties, Brazda was assigned to be the lead officer specializing in the area of domestic violence. He was to promote prevention efforts, educate the public and criminal justice professionals, and conduct follow-up investigations with victims. Since his start, he has taught domestic violence investigation techniques to over 400 civilian and military law enforcement officers in the state. He is a member of the local Crisis Response Team for Domestic Violence that meets monthly to review cases.

As part of his COPPS duties, Officer Brazda has written several grants for equipment, training, and salaries for traffic enforcement operations that have been approved and funded by the state. Besides his usual duties, Officer Brazda is a Field Training Officer, a Drug Recognition Expert, and a member of the department’s SWAT team.

The following are some of Officer Brazda’s work accomplishments this year.

In April, Officer Brazda and two other officers were dispatched to check the well-being of a woman who was possibly suicidal. The three officers tried to make contact with the woman at her front door but there was no answer. They heard a smoke detector sounding from inside the house and then saw flames inside the living room. They kicked in the door and entered. One officer grabbed the inn table that was on fire and took it outside, the second officer removed the woman, and Officer Brazda searched through the smoke-filled residence for additional persons or fires. Due to the officers’ quick actions, damage to the home was very limited, and the woman was not hurt. She was taken to a mental health facility for treatment.

In June, Officer Brazda and other COPPS Unit members were thanked by Chief Hoins of the Papillion Police Department for their assistance during Papillion Days. Officer Brazda and other COPPS officers helped patrol in the Papillion city park during one of their busiest times of the year.

In September, Officer Brazda made an arrest that helped solve an Omaha homicide. He was working a traffic detail enforcing speed limits on Giles Road. A newer Cadillac, without a front license plate, went by driven by a young man. Officer Brazda tried to stop the vehicle which then fled the area. Brazda pursued the vehicle into Omaha where the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. Brazda chased him, and with the help of another officer, apprehended him and took him to the Bellevue criminal investigations office. There the young man admitted that he had been involved in a homicide in Omaha two weeks earlier, that the Cadillac he had been driving was involved in the homicide, and it was also stolen. Our officers later found stolen property in the car from nine different residential burglaries that had occurred in Omaha. Homicide detectives from Omaha were called and they confirmed that they did not have any leads on the homicide. They came and interviewed the young man and learned who the shooter was. A few days later they arrested the other people involved in the murder.

During October, Officer Brazda participated in the department’s annual fitness testing and set the record for the best time on the obstacle course this year.