The Fairfax County Police Department held its Volunteer Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 15, at the Fairfax County Government Center, honoring men and women who gave a total of 53,630 hours of volunteer time to the county. The program honored Auxiliary Police Officers (APO), Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), and members of the Chaplains Unit.
Those honored included:
APO and Chaplain Service Hours Awards Through December 2014
1,000 Service Hours — APO Mark Janeczko, APO Carol Might, and APO Paul Mourao
2,500 Service Hours — APO Tony Butera, APO Ken Cowan, APO Charles Foster, APO Gordon McCallum, and APO Rage Mohamud
5,000 Service Hours — APO Thomas Reavis
7,500 Service Hours — APO Donald Brodie, APO Beth Myers, and APO Keith Shaver
10,000 Service Hours — APO William Ridgeway and Chaplain Michael Shochet
VIPS Service Hours Awards — Through December 2014
500 Service Hours — VIPS Raoul Drapeau and VIPS Ken Schafer
750 Service Hours — AS-VIPS Terri Baker and VIPS Deborah Neuberger
1,000 Service Hours — AS-VIPS Terri Baker
1,500 Service Hours — AS-VIPS Terry Baker, VIPS Fran Hart, VIPS Philip Schroeder, and VIPS John Werderman
6,000 Service Hours — VIPS John Sherburne
8,000 Service Hours — VIPS Tracey Ryan
10,000 Service Hours — VIPS David Welch
12,000 Service Hours — VIPS John Bauer
Meritorious Group Award
The Meritorious Group Award for a significant contribution to a department project is awarded to the following VIPS assigned to the Criminal Justice Academy/Professional Development Center. These volunteers supported all aspects of the academy by completing data entry, lobby detail to check IDs and answer questions, filing paperwork, assisting in promotion processes and in the registration process of the STILE Conference, which had over 150 incumbents in attendance. Without their hours of commitment, the academy could not have successfully completed its mission.
- VIPS Ruth Bedell
- VIPS Keith Kalinowski
- VIPS Robert Parillo
- VIPS Karen Sica
- VIPS Laurian Cannon
- VIPS Deborah Neuberger
- VIPS Michael Proffitt
Points of Light Foundation President's Council on Service and Civic Participation
This year's Call to Service-Lifetime Awardees have achieved a minimum of 4,000 hours of volunteer service over the course of their lifetimes and they join the esteemed group of past VIPS, APO, and Chaplain recipients.
- APO Ron Bertoia
- APO Forrest Houston
- APO Richard Majauskas
- APO John (Ed) Pouncey
- VIPS Hung Nguyen
- VIPS Wouter "Van" Vanderwal
Fairfax
Myers Is Auxiliary Police Officer of the Year — Crime Prevention
APO Beth Myers of the Fair Oaks District Station received the Auxiliary Police Officer of the Year Awared for Crime Prevention. It recognizes the outstanding contributions of the APO who supports crime prevention efforts within the community. Myers joined the APO program in January 1996 and to date has volunteered more than 7,600 hours. In 2014, Myers contributed 440 hours through her involvement with the Fair Oaks District Station's and the department's community activities, including assisting with the annual Neighborhood Watch First Night events and the Crime Solver 5K race.
Most notably are the many hours Myers volunteers as an instructor for the women's self-defense program offered at the station level. Myers is committed to providing this service to women of all ages, as she recognizes this training is vital to the safety and well-being for the women in Fairfax County.
In addition to her crime prevention efforts, Myers performs patrol functions, to include driving the patrol wagon around the station patrol areas, enabling the on-duty paid officers to continue performing their patrol duties. She role-plays at the Criminal Justice Academy and for other police department training exercises.
Kirwin Is the Volunteers in Police Service of the Year for Court Liaison
Gerald Kirwin, a Court Liaison, won the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) of the Year Award for Administration. It recognizes the VIPS whose outstanding contributions support the department through administrative efforts for specific programs for projects. Kirwin has been a valued member of the Police Court Liaison Section, the Operations Support Bureau, and Resource Management Bureau, since January 2009. In 2014, Kirwin contributed 543 hours.
Kirwin prepares and prints the daily criminal docket and assists the Commonwealth's Attorney's office and police officers to run traffic and criminal background checks in the Court Liaison Section. He maintains and keeps the statistics and tracks data of police escort performed by the Motor Squad.
Additionally, as an integral part of the Resources Management Bureau, Kirwin monitors and maintains data pertaining to the Department's monthly fuel usage by station. He assists the In-Car Video section by monitoring, collecting, and maintaining records useful for investigative and upcoming court-related purposes.
Forgash and Hauda Win the Volunteers in Police Service of the Year Awards for Training
Andrew Forgash, M.D., and William Hauda, M.D., of the Helicopter Division won the Volunteers in Police Service of the Year awards for Training. It recognizes the VIPS whose outstanding contributions support either the training of VIPS or of the community.
Forgash has served as the department's assistant medical director for the past three years. For more than 12 years, Hauda has served as the Police Department's operational medical director. While serving as VIPS, Hauda and Forgash continuously volunteer their time to provide ongoing training for the Police Department's 12 paramedics assigned to the Helicopter Division and 18 EMTs assigned throughout the department. They assist in formulating and teaching monthly four-hour Continuing Medical Education training sessions and also arrange for emergency room rotations for the department's medically trained personnel.
To ensure the quality of the department's medical program, Hauda and Forgash regularly conduct proficiency training for the department's paramedics and provide other spontaneous training opportunities to test and enhance the paramedic's knowledge.
Hauda and Forgash have also been instrumental in developing and implementing the TAC Medic and Tactical Emergency Casualty Care program. The TAC Medic program places department paramedics with the SWAT team, and other specialized units, during critical incidents and training exercises. This ensures that advanced medical care can be administered quickly if any injuries occur. Hauda and Forgash participate in quarterly training for the TAC Medics and Hauda has responded to several hostage barricades and other incidents to provide medical oversight and consultation. The TECC program was implemented in 2013 and has placed a small medical kit of lifesaving equipment in the hands of every patrol officer.
Hauda and Forgash attended the instructor's course for the TECC program implementation and served as instructors to teach patrol officers how to use the tools in the kit. The TECC its have already been used in the field several times to assist injured citizens until Fire and Rescue personnel arrive on the scene.
In addition to their ongoing duties, Hauda and Forgash meet periodically with the Chief of Police and serve as medical subject matter experts for the police department for any medical questions or concerns.
Coyle and Shugrue Win the Volunteers in Police Service of the Year Awards for the Animal Shelter
Angela Coyle and Laura Shugrue won the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) of the Year for the Animal Shelter. It recognizes the VIPS whose outstanding contributions support the Animal Shelter. Coyle and Shugrue have both been volunteering their time at the animal shelter for seven and 11 years, respectively. Working as a team as adoption counselors for the shelter and covering every Saturday, they each volunteered more than 250 hours in 2014.
In addition to their Saturday volunteer time, Coyle and Shugrue spent many hours learning the new animal management software along with the shelter staff. They both conduct adoption counseling, intake and surrender counseling, dog walking and working on animal biographies for the shelter's adoptable animals.
Springfield
Schroeder Is the Volunteers in Police Service Award Winner
VIPS Philip Schroeder of the West Springfield District Station and the Crime Scene Section is the 2014 Volunteer in Police Service (VIPS) of the Year Award winner. It recognizes the VIPS whose outstanding contributions support the overall mission of the Volunteers in Police Service Program.
A longtime resident of Fairfax County, Schroeder joined the VIPS program in September 2011. In 2014, he contributed 528 hours with an overall total of 1,650 hours of volunteer service to the program.
Among the many IT-related projects Schroeder has been involved in was to update and modernize the station's private property trespass files. Schroeder updated the information, condensed all documentation that was previously filed in large ring binders and imported it into the I/Leads System. Now copies of notices to people not welcome on properties or in businesses are available quickly to patrol officers to access accurate information when they are called to enforce trespassing complaints. Schroeder continues to keep these files up-to-date and accurate.
Schroeder assisted the West Springfield District Station with a new NPU assignment tracking program, a road closure request tracing program, an IA case tracking system, and maintains a Neighborhood Watch listing for both the West Springfield and the Franconia Districts. He also maintains and updates the station's public webpage, working closely with the department's Public Information Office and IT staff.
Additionally, Schroeder has been instrumental in the development of the Investigative Support Division's BlueNet Page as well as developing a statistical analysis package similar to the Tableau program used by Patrol, that enables commanders to view different calls for service when the Crime Scene Section responds to events.
Philip Bishop Wins Police Chaplain of the Year Award
Chaplain Philip Bishop of the Franconia District Station won the Police Chaplain of the Year Award. Bishop served as a Fairfax County Police officer until he resigned his position for another calling as the presiding pastor of the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Alexandria. He later rejoined the FCPD family in 2008 when he became an active member of the Police Chaplain Corps and became the chaplain for the Franconia District Station. He not only responds to callouts in and around Fairfax County, he also visits injured officers in the hospital and conducts visitations to the Greensville Correctional Institution in Greensville County, Va.
Through countless ride-alongs and station visits, Bishop has become a friend and confidant to many police officers and has developed lasting relationships with the men and women of the FCPD. Officers seek out Bishop's spiritual guidance when faced with personal, medical, and familial challenges. He brings a comforting touch and peaceful presence to a crisis, offering his warm personality and calming spirit to help those in need.
Bishop represents the department at special ceremonies around the region, including the Special Olympics Torch Run and other memorial events. In 2014, Bishop worked over 220 service hours with 1,248 contributed overall.