The Federal Way Police Department held their annual department awards ceremony on Dec. 16. Officers, detectives, supervisors and civilian employees were nominated by their peers and received awards for their duties. Meritorious Awards, which were based upon a specific action performed by an employee, such as life saving or going above and beyond the call of duty, and Top Performance Awards, based upon specific production data, were given as well.

Below is a list of those in the department who were awarded the honors:

Employee of the Year Awards:

Officer of the Year:  Officer Justin Wilson

On July 14, Officer Justin Wilson was patrolling an area on his assigned sector in which there were recent day time burglaries and vehicle prowls. He observed a masked male run across the street. The man was armed with a handgun. Unknown to Wilson at the time, the man had just committed an armed robbery in the parking lot at Dumas Bay Center. The weapon slipped from the suspect’s possession onto the ground. The suspect looked at the approaching police car. Instead of fleeing, the assailant stopped and picked up the gun. Wilson instantly responded by delivering his police car as an impact device, which separated the assailant from his weapon and rendered the assailant unable to continue further aggression. Wilson’s actions protected himself and others from serious harm or death, and caused the apprehension of a dangerous felony suspect.

Wilson was also the first Federal Way Police Department officer to deploy an AED (Automated external defibrillator). On Sept. 1, one week after receiving a defibrillator, Wilson was dispatched to a CPR in progress. Upon arrival he saw a bystander performing CPR on a 63-year old male who had collapsed while jogging on a nearby trail. Wilson immediately deployed the defibrillator from his vehicle, placed it on the patient, and followed the instructions. The AED delivered a shock and CPR was continued until medics arrived. The patient was transported to Auburn Regional Medical Center with a functional heart rhythm and stable blood pressure.

On Oct. 24, officers were dispatched to CPR in progress on an 8-year old girl. Officer Wilson arrived first. He deployed the defibrillator but no shock was advised. Wilson performed CPR until fire personnel took over. Initially there was no pulse; however, medics eventually established a pulse and the girl’s breathing resumed.

Civilian Employee of the Year: Judy Whetung

Whetung started employment with the police department in March 1998 as a record specialist and moved to her current position as the Criminal Investigations Section administrative assistant in December 2003.

Whetung’s job description is extremely varied and is nearly five-and-a-half pages in length. In summary, she keeps the Criminal Investigations Section running smoothly. Whetung handles incoming and outgoing case distribution, accounts for the investigative funds, orders supplies, answers incoming calls and visits, enters time slips, coordinates prosecutor contacts, and many other day to day tasks. Despite her many daily assignments, she goes out of her way to assist the detectives and supervisors assigned to the Criminal Investigations Section. She maintains a professional and friendly demeanor no matter what she is faced with. When others are absent, Whetung readily steps up and takes on other duties whenever she is needed. She performs as a true team member.

For over a decade, Whetung has been the heart and soul of the Investigations Section. Despite significant challenges occurring outside of work, she cheerfully and professionally exceeds her job expectations and she truly makes the Investigations Section a finer place to work.

Supervisor of the Year: Lt. Tracy Grossnickle

An adult male with initials “R.O.” is mentally ill. Last year R.O. decreased his medication and his mental issues deteriorated accordingly. This led to police’s first contact with him on Jan. 1. In the next six months, he was trespassed from 15 different locations, was a suspect in five criminal cases, was involved in 10 others, and other field interviews were noted four times. Undocumented contacts were probably double that, police officials said. A multitude of officers were involved with R.O. at some point. R.O. was evicted from his apartment where he lived for over 22 years, which increased his visits to City Hall, where he regularly demanded to speak with the mayor. Lt. Grossnickle became an unofficial point of contact between R.O. and the city.

In spite of R.O.’s deteriorating mental condition, he appeared physically capable of caring for himself.  Nevertheless, after much effort, Grossnickle was able to get him involuntarily committed for an evaluation. Based largely on his testimony, R.O. was confined for a mandatory 30-day treatment. Grossnicke’s objective was to ensure R.O. received the help he needed, and that was what R.O. got. He is currently back to a much healthier mental condition, according to police officials. After his release from confinement, R.O. returned to City Hall and apologized for his behavior. He now routinely refers to Grossnickle as “Doctor Grossnickle.”

During 2014, Grossnickle also dealt with vehicles that were apparently stored without authorization in the City Hall parking lot and R.O.’s car was one of them. Along with the nuisance and unsightliness of stored vehicles, Grossnickle recognized the threat-vulnerability to any government facility that allows vehicles to remain on the property. Grossnickle discovered a gap in the department’s legal ability to remove such vehicles. On his own initiative, Grossnickle did the relevant research, developed a written solution, received approval for his proposal, and ordered the necessary signage. Now, vehicles left parked on City Hall property may be impounded without further ado.

Detective of the Year: Detective Richard Kim

Detective Rich Kim was hired by Federal Way police in April 2002. He was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Section in May 2008. Kim has held a variety of assignments within both the property unit and the persons unit. He currently works a primary case load of robbery, assault and homicide. This year, Kim was the lead investigator on several major investigations. Notable investigations resulting in arrests include: a series of bank robberies, a series of armed robberies of businesses in Federal Way and other cities, and a brutal homicide of a U.S. Marine. As a valued member of the Valley Investigation Team, Kim was selected as the lead investigator in multiple officer-involved shootings. This is a small sample of Kim’s investigative versatility, which is continually on display. Police officials also said Kim’s “can do” attitude is contagious. He puts the mission first and will take on any assignment to help his fellow detectives with their investigations. In 2014, the Criminal Investigations Section experienced an unusually heavy major case load. During this time, Kim’s leadership was vital in ensuring the success of the unit.

Meritorious Awards:

Life Saving Award: Officers Bryan Vollmer and Steve Olsen

On Sept. 23, at approximately 2:03 p.m., Officers Vollmer and Olson responded to a suicidal male. When the officers arrived, they searched the subject’s residence and located the man partially concealed in the cluttered garage. The man had a deep horizontal laceration to his left upper arm, which was hemorrhaging with a large amount of blood on the floor. Olson remained with the male while Vollmer retrieved his tourniquet and then applied it to the man’s upper left arm. Medics subsequently transported the man to Harborview Medical Center.

The medic supervisor credits the quick actions by the officers and their application of a tourniquet with saving the man’s life.

Life Saving Award: Officer Travis Loyd

On Sept. 28, a 4-year old girl was pushed out of a second story window by her 6-year old brother. The girl impacted head-first onto a concrete driveway. The panic-stricken mother picked up the child and ran to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor purportedly “worked in the medical field.”

Loyd was the first emergency responder to arrive. He immediately recognized the child must not be moved any further. Loyd worked to stabilize the child and applied pressure to a wound that was bleeding seriously ­— eventually stopping the bleeding. After brief on-scene care from medical personnel, the child was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

When Detective Unsworth later spoke with the attending pediatric trauma physician, the doctor reported that the child was doing well. The doctor opined that the child was recovering because of the quick medical treatment she received at the scene.

Loyd receives the lifesaving award for safely putting himself in the right place at the right time, where he did the right things to begin the process of saving the child’s life.

Life Saving Award: Officer Ernest Sanders

On Oct. 27 at 1:55 p.m., Sanders responded to a 911 call in which a car had crashed into a house. When Sanders arrived, he found the driver unconscious at the steering wheel, blue in the face, not breathing, and the man had no pulse. Sanders extracted the driver from the car and initiated CPR.

After an aid unit arrived on scene they took over resuscitation efforts, the on scene medical opinion was the patient suffered a heart attack while driving, lost consciousness and crashed into the house. Fortunately, the occupants were not home at the time.

Medics worked on the patient for approximately 20 minutes, eventually establishing a heartbeat. The man was transported to the hospital, where he eventually recovered.

Sanders received the lifesaving award for safely putting himself in the right place at the right time, where he did the right things to begin the process of saving the driver’s life.

Life Saving Award: Officers Charlie Hinckle and Mike Sant

On July 19 at approximately 1:20 a.m., Lt. Mark Bensen was driving southbound on Pacific Highway South near the 33800 block. There, he observed a car that recently crashed off the road. The vehicle’s engine compartment was on fire. Panicked witnesses directed Bensen to a man lying nearby on the sidewalk. The man had blood on his head and broken glass on his leg, but he was conscious. Bensen called for the fire department and aid unit. As he began attending to the man, Bensen asked if anyone else was in the car. The man stated there were no other passengers in the vehicle with him.

Officers Charlie Hinckle and his field training officer Mike Sant arrived. They looked inside the burning vehicle and discovered a woman seated behind the steering wheel. She was incoherent and barely conscious. Sant and Hinckle went into action. Hinckle grabbed the fire extinguisher from their patrol car. Sant worked to open the driver’s door, which was pinched shut due to impact damage. The flames continued to spread, encroaching into the passenger compartment.

Hinckle fought the flames while Sant moved to the passenger side, opened the door, reached across and took hold of the woman. He extracted her from the vehicle. Less than 20 seconds later there was a small explosion and the entire vehicle became engulfed in flames.

Both patients were sent to the hospital, where they recovered. Officers Hinckle and Sant received the life-saving award for saving the woman’s life.

Top Performers:

Most Felony Arrests:

1. Steve Wortman with 10

Most DUI Arrests:

1. Keith Pon with 26

Most Stolen Vehicles Recovered:

1. John Buster with 27

Most Infractions by a Patrol Officer:

1. Scott Parker with 673

Most Infractions by a Traffic Officer:

1. Keith Pon with 1,390

Most Field Interviews:

1. Officers Josh Haglan with 578

Most Cases Completed by a Patrol Officer:

1. Gordon Morikawa with 584

Most Cases Entered by a Records Specialist

1. Tracy Mulligan with 3061

Most Hours Donated by a Volunteer

1. Lottie Kinney with 586 hours

Deputy Chief Kyle Sumpter with Life Saving Award winners: Officer Charlie Hinckle, Officer Michael Sant, Officer Bryan Vollmer, Officer Steve Olsen, Officer of the Year winner Justin Wilson and police Chief Andy Hwang. Courtesy of the Federal Way Police Department