By Shelly Whitehead, The Kentucky Post
Northern Kentucky law enforcement agencies have plenty to boast about this month, including governor’s honors for a police chief, drunk-driving enforcement awards to two local officers and three agencies, and invitations from abroad to Boone County’s emergency communication gurus. One of the state’s top honors went to Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward. He received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Kentucky Law Enforcement on Tuesday from the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training.
The 18-year law enforcement veteran has been Alexandria chief since 2001. Under Ward’s leadership, Alexandria police have made many law enforcement firsts locally, including becoming the first community to undergo a vulnerability assessment program to enhance emergency preparedness and response.
In Northern Kentucky, Ward is particularly well-known for his efforts in summoning a countywide effort to fight heroin and other drug addictions in the wake of a flurry of teen-age overdose deaths last winter.
The governor’s award honors the person who significantly advances law enforcement through professional standards and training or exemplary leadership.
“Chief Ward’s commitment to continually develop, participate in and practice new and innovative programs has made the Alexandria Police Department one of Kentucky’s premier law enforcement agencies,” said John W. Bizzack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training in Richmond.
Two other local officers and three departments were honored Tuesday for their exceptional work to reduce drunk driving. Bellevue Police Officer Jesse Brewer and Newport Police Officer Ronnie Gross were awarded 2003 Governor’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Top Officer Awards for their divisions.
The Bellevue Police Department received the top Governor’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Award for small departments, and the Newport Police Department and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department each received third-place awards for their sized departments.
The awards ceremony in Lexington recognized 197 officers and 73 agencies for extraordinary efforts in reducing impaired driving in Kentucky.
Collectively, the award recipients have arrested 30,000 people for impaired driving this year.
Honors for two members of the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center administrative staff came recently from abroad. Mike Stem and Joe Fussinger returned last week from a three-week working trip to Victoria, Australia, where they helped set up a province-wide mobile data network modeled after the system in place here for the last two years.