Hartford Police Department
Commendations and Awards Recipients
November  12th, 2005

Chief’s Medal of Valor:
Det. Nestor Caraballo
Det. Edward Foster
Det. Jose Santiago 

Distinguished Service Medal:  
Capt. Joseph J. Buyak, III
Lt. John Betz
Lt. Mark Rubera-HPD Retired
Lieutenant Scott Sansom
Sgt. Donald Camp
Sgt. Charles Cochran
Sgt. Stephen Miele
Sgt. Garth Perri
Sgt. Francis Perrone
Sgt. Sean Spell
Sgt. Jason Thody
Sgt. Edward Yergeau
Det. Jeffrey Antuna
Det. Robert Burgos (2 Awards)
Det. Michael Cacioli (2 Awards)
Det. Tishay Johnson
Det. Richard Medina
Sgt. Robert Nelson
Det. Brandon O’ Brien (2 Awards)
Sgt. Felix Ortiz
Det. Steven Pepler
Det. Brenon Plourde
Det. Mark Rinaldi
Det. Pedro Rivera
Det. Gustavo Rodriguez (2 Awards)
Sgt. Shawn St. John
Det. Deborah Scates
Det. Michael Sheldon
Det. Jon Sherwood
Det. Dennis Sikoski
Det. William Ward
Off. Michael Allen
Off. Miguel Colon (2 Awards)
Off. Jorge DeJesus
Off. Reginald Early
Off. Carlo Faienza (2 Awards)
Off. Nazario Figueroa
Sgt. Robert Ford
Off. Leonard Grissette
Off. Christopher Heimerdinger
Off. Gary Hudson
Off. Renaul Johnson
Off. Steven Kneeland
Off. Donald Linde
Off. Mark Manson
Det. Michael Manson
Off. Anthony Martinez (2 Awards)
Det. Marcos Massa
Off. TJ McGrath
Off. Rafael Mena
Off. John Miller (3 Awards)
Sgt. William Mooney
Off. Kevin Nesta
Off. Shawn Nichols
Off. Patrick O’ Gorman
Off. Ian Powell
Det. Brian Salkeld
Off. Karen Spearman
Off. Pamela Stevens
Off. Christopher Sullivan
Off. Mark Vilcinskas
Off. Shelley Whitley
Det. Gregory Brigandi-West Hartford PD
Off. Brian Wilkinson-Meriden PD
Special Agent Robert Bornstein-FBI

Merit Award:
Assistant Chief of Police Michael J. Fallon
Lieutenant Harold Even
Lieutenant David Kenary-HPD Retired
Sgt. David Dufault
Sgt. Sergio Inho
Sergeant Daniel Meehan (2 Awards)
Det. Brenon Plourde
Det. Jose Santiago
Off. Christian Billings
Off. Mark Castagna
Off. Kevin Hart
Off. Jeffrey Hopkins
Off. Glenn Leger
Off. Israel Mantilla
Off. Dennis O’ Connor
Off. Edward Stoor
Off. Ryan Rea
Off. Marcel Washington
Special Agent Peter Borysevicz-DEA

Distinguished Citizen’s Award: 
Vincent Smith
Walter “Pete” Soucy

Police Citizen’s Award:
Joseph Cullen
Robert Ozyck
Hartford City Councilman Calixto Torres
Sammy Trimmier

Below are descriptions of Award Categories with a picture of the medals attached to each award: 

Sworn Personnel Awards
Chief's Medal of Valor
Distinguished Service Medal
Jennings Memorial Award
Police Cross
Police Merit Award
Exemplary Service Award
Unit Citation

Citizen Award Categories
Hartford Police Distinguished Citizens Award
Police Citizen's Award


Chief’s Medal of Valor
The Chief’s Medal of Valor is awarded to a sworn officer who, in the intelligent performance of his/her duty and at grave and imminent personal danger, engages in successful combat with an armed and dangerous adversary or is gravely wounded as a result of such combat; or performs an act which is so laudable as to merit such praise. 

Distinguished Service Medal:  
The Distinguished Service Medal is presented to a sworn officer who, in the intelligent performance of his/her duty and at grave and imminent personal danger, apprehends or through his/her actions causes to be apprehended a dangerous felon; or performs an act to merit such recognition.

Jennings Memorial Award:
The Jennings Memorial Award is awarded in memory of sworn personnel who die from injuries sustained in the line of duty.
 

Police Cross:  
The Police Cross is presented to a sworn officer who is seriously wounded  in the line of duty in such a manner as to merit this award.  

Police Merit Award:  
The Police Merit Award will be presented to a sworn officer upon commission of an intelligent and valuable police service that demonstrated unusual devotion to duty or valor.

Exemplary Service Award:  

The Exemplary Service Award will be presented to a sworn officer who demonstrates exemplary service in job performance, citizen contacts, and overall attitude and has three occurrences or less of lost time in a year (to a maximum of seven  days lost time excluding injured or maternity time) and no sustained disciplinary action for a period of two years.

Unit Citation:   
The Unit Citation shall be presented to sworn members of a unit who exhibited exceptional professional skill and conduct during a coordinated law enforcement initiative.

Hartford Police Distinguished Citizens Award:  
The Distinguished Citizen’s Award will be presented to a citizen who, at grave and imminent personal danger, provides extraordinary service to the Hartford Police Department or substantially assists in the apprehension of a criminal.

Police Citizen’s Award:  
The Police Citizen’s Award will be presented to citizens or organizations who have aided the Hartford Police Department.