MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Police Department honored dozens of officers and other employees Saturday evening at its annual dinner.
The event recognized the department’s officer of the year, supervisor of the year, detective of the year and civilian of the year, among other award winners, and raised more than ever before for a lieutenant’s family.
Officer Joe Gladden was selected as the 2018 officer of the year for his self-motivation and willingness to mentor others, especially younger officers.
“This officer has become an informal shift leader among his peers and he requires very little supervision,” Capt. Shari Robertson said.
Gladden has also stepped up to serve as a field training officer and taken a role as an ALICE instructor, where he trains citizens and organizations on proper responses to an active shooter.
During 2018, Gladden generated 27 felony warrants, 27 felony arrests,76 misdemeanor arrests, 161 misdemeanor warrants, 7 OVIs, 126 summonses, 88 traffic citations and 342 general offense reports. Further, he’s be responsible for recovering nearly $39,000 in stolen property.
The 2018 detective of the year is Ryan Anschutz, who handled 68 long-term, covert investigations that led to numerous federal and felony child exploitation arrests and is responsible for working with local and federal authorities to identify a potential active shooter with information from social media.
“The detective was able to take limited information he was given about the culprit and determined the suspect was in Sweden,” Robertson said.
Anschutz worked with the FBI to determine the threat’s validity, and the suspect was taken into custody.
“It was learned that the suspect had access to firearms, and he intended to shoot up a school on the anniversary of the Columbine School shootings,” Robertson said. “The collaboration of this detective and other authorities may have averted a real tragedy and saved several lives.”
Anschutz was recognized with an additional award, along with another detective earlier in the evening for this effort. He also received an award for a discovery that led to a repair of what could have been a costly computer glitch.
Further, in the past year, Anshutz worked to identify eight children who were rescued from sexual exploitation. In the process, he conducted 36 federal search warrants and 45 state and local search warrants. These warrants led to the seizure of computers, cell phones and other devices used to target children.
“In pursuit of these cases, this detective has examined over 27,000 gigabytes of electronic (data),” Robertson said.
Anschutz assisted in an additional 87 case investigations involving child exploitation and has been instrumental to the department’s drone team, Robertson said.
Lt. Mike Napier was chosen as supervisor of the year.
“This supervisor has completely engrossed himself in his new assignment and has taken on numerous assignments that require a high level of attention and detail to complete,” Robertson said.
She went on to applaud Napier for his “impressive work ethic” and “positive attitude.”
Napier also serves as a firearms instructor and is a member of the ASORT/SWAT team.
Hollie McCauley was honored as the civilian of the year.
McCauley works with the MPD on a daily basis and is responsible for tracking department purchases and payroll and providing financial oversight for many grants.
Her willingness to take on projects “without complaint” was noted.
The awards ceremony also named seven “top cops.” These were officer Michael Haines, officer Ryan Grimshaw, officer Nick Stevens, detective Ronald Packer, detective Sgt. Matthew Loughman, Sgt. Stacie Garrick and Lt. Chad Brubaker.
Others were recognized for their efforts in tracking down fugitive Shawn Christy, saving lives of suicidal individuals, their attention to details and more.
The dinner raised $1,770 for Lt. Ken Carol’s family for some health concerns, Robertson said. It’s the most money ever raised at the annual event.
“Several years ago there was a policeman’s ball but as attendance started to dwindle, we decided to put together an awards banquet, and make it a little less formal,” Robertson said. “Then, at some point, the notion to bring in donations for someone in need was brought up.”
The event features several drawings, and the department reaches out to the community for help in raising funds.
“We’ve been very blessed by the citizens, businesses and organizations in the city that have reached out and donated items to help us in this endeavor, and all the money goes to the Carol family,” Robertson said.
