The 2024 Law Enforcement Training Symposium in Sandusky honored 10 officers, an ATF task force and a civilian volunteer whose work strengthens the bonds between law enforcement and the community.
VICTORIA ALLEN CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP AWARD
Honors a “servant leader” who, in the spirit of the award’s namesake, works to unite neighbors and local law enforcement for the betterment of the community as a whole
Nicole Banks | Founder and President, Starfish Assignment
Nicole Banks led a social-media appeal in 2018 to help a homeless ex-Marine get back on his feet. Energized by the experience, she took on a bigger mission, working with patrol officers from the Columbus Division of Police who, in the course of their duties, identify community members in dire need of help — for example, an immigrant with no food or furniture, a family suddenly forced to move from a condemned apartment, or an elderly resident with medical issues but no phone to call for help. Through the nonprofit she established, Starfish Assignment, Banks solicits the help of individuals and businesses that have volunteered to assist her and, in turn, provides a lifeline for those who need it most.
GROUP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Honors an outstanding accomplishment by a group of individuals resulting in a significant, positive and lasting impact on law enforcement and/or the public
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Cleveland Group IV-Violent Crime Gun Task Force
In the summer of 2023, ATF agents and task force officers led by Resident Agent in Charge Michael Gajewski teamed with the Cleveland Division of Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio to carry out a three-month sting targeting gun crimes and drug trafficking in and around Cleveland. Operation Bomb City employed crime mapping to specifically target individuals and areas that accounted for the most violent crime in the area, leading to the indictment of 84 people and confiscation of 255 guns, 47 of which yielded NIBIN leads. In all, the NIBIN evidence connected to 106 shootings — including 11 homicides, 52 felonious assaults, 19 shots fired, and 19 shots fired into a habitation.
TRAINING AWARDS (2 WINNERS)
Honors an individual whose instructional expertise has significantly influenced prospective and current peace officers
Lt. William Parkomaki | Operations Commander, Ashtabula Police Department
Lt. William Parkomaki’s passion for training has made an impact. “I struggle to think of a department in northeastern Ohio that he has not trained,” said Detective Taylor Cleveland of the Conneaut Police Department. Parkomaki is an expert in active-shooter training, land navigation and tracking, firearms, SWAT tactics, high-threat vehicle engagements, building searches, low-light engagements, stops and approaches, and tactical emergency casualty care. Besides his work with the Ashtabula PD, he teaches at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, the Ohio Tactical Officers Association, the Kent State Regional Training Academy, and the basic peace officer academies at Kent State University Trumbull and Lakeland Community College. He is in the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Force, where he also serves as training officer.
Lt. Reginald “Rex” Young | Mount Vernon Police Department
Lt. Rex Young hit on the right formula six years ago when he created a training program for his department. Rooted in OPOTA’s Scenario Training Equipment Program (STEP), it provided quality instruction coupled with true-to-life scenarios that involve the enthusiastic participation of community members as actors. The effect is twofold: Officers develop better judgment and hone their skills in patrol operations and drug interdiction, and the community members — elected officials, local prosecutors, journalists and students — come away with a deeper appreciation for law enforcement and the specific threats they face. Perhaps the best testament to the program’s success is the number of outside agencies that sign up each year to have their officers to go through the two-week training. “It’s become a very popular ‘must’ for law enforcement administrators,” Mount Vernon Police Capt. Andrew Burns said.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Honors a law enforcement officer whose involvement in civic organizations helps to build bonds between police and the community
Detective Brandon Long | Hilliard Division of Police
Detective Brandon Long has been an integral part of Special Olympics since 2014, beginning with his hometown program, the Hilliard Bobcats. Over the years, he has coached Special Olympians in basketball, golf, volleyball and tennis, and has participated alongside them on unified teams. Currently, he is the state director of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Ohio. The annual fundraiser involves thousands of police officers from hundreds of communities who, in simultaneous relays from the four corners of the state, carry torches to the opening ceremonies at Ohio Stadium. Every year he also organizes a community softball game between the Bobcats and Hilliard first responders; a Polar Plunge fundraiser; and an Amazing Abilities Open House, which gives members of the special needs and autism communities the opportunity to interact with police and firefighters in a safe setting.
BLUE LINE AWARD
Honors a law enforcement officer who is an innovator and has a knack for devising ways to improve day-to-day police work
Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen | President, Central Ohio Chiefs Association
When Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen was asked by his peers to assume leadership of the Franklin County Chiefs Association, he warned that big changes were necessary. For starters, the organization had to become the voice of central Ohio police leaders; for too long, the dominant voice in the news media regarding law enforcement matters had come from union leaders. More broadly, the organization had to take a more active leadership role in the region’s public safety. Now a nonprofit called the Central Ohio Chiefs Association (COCA), the group has achieved considerable success in short order, including partnering with faith leaders, educators, judges, law enforcement officials, and other key partners in Franklin County to develop goals for managing juvenile crime, and working with other area departments to conduct multi-agency blitzes focused on specific crime issues. Membership in COCA includes chiefs, county sheriffs, patrol commanders and prosecuting attorneys in Franklin and the six surrounding counties.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Honors a retired law enforcement officer with a career-long history of extraordinary contributions to the profession
Sgt. Matt Harris | Columbus Division of Police, retired
In a profession founded on service, Sgt. Matt Harris stands out for the kindness and caring he brought to his 26-year career. That was true during his 20-plus years as an officer and precinct sergeant in the Patrol Division, where he was known for his collaboration and involvement with the community. And it also was evident in his work with the division’s Crisis Intervention Team and in the de-escalation training that he provided to fellow officers, including officers from other agencies. Based on his compassionate nature, experience and leadership abilities, the command staff in 2019 tabbed him to head up the Division’s newly created Mobile Crisis Response Unit, designed to intercede in potentially volatile service calls involving people with mental-health conditions or substance-abuse issues. Officer Megan Howe, who worked with Harris, said officers and clinicians on the five MCR teams “were awestruck by his relentless efforts to enhance the program in hopes of better serving each and every citizen in our community.”
Every year, the law enforcement Valor Award recognizes heroic acts carried out under fire during a criminal event. In 2024, Attorney General Dave Yost and OPOTC created an additional category,
the Exemplary Response Award, to honor an equally important type of heroism — lifesaving.
EXEMPLARY RESPONSE AWARDS (2 WINNERS)
Honors a law enforcement officer who saves or attempts to save someone’s life, or performs other exceptional actions, in response to a call for assistance
Officer Kyle Cunningham | Akron Police Department
Had Officer Kyle Cunningham been even a second slower, the distraught young man would have jumped to his death.
A video shows just how close tragedy came: Cunningham bolts from his cruiser as the man runs toward the railing of the Route 8 High Level Bridge. As the man attempts to hurtle over the edge, Cunningham grabs him even as the man tries to squirm out of his coat and leap to the street 120 feet below.
As the young man’s father watches, other officers arrive, and together they pull the young man back to safety. "Whatever it took, I wasn’t going to let go," Cunningham said later.
The incident began about 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2023, when a woman called 911 about her 24-year-old son having suicidal thoughts and threatening to jump off a bridge.
Officers found the man in his car at Arch Street and N. Adolph Avenue, his father outside the car pleading for him to come home. Moments later, the man sped away, got out of the car and ran toward the bridge. “I was just fortunate enough to be there at the right time,” Cunningham said. “There are so many officers who would have done the same thing.”
Officer Marc Merriweather | Marlboro Township Police Department
As soon as Officer Marc Merriweather arrived on the scene, he realized there was no time to spare. It was about
6:45 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2023, when the call came in about a house fire on Tope Avenue in Stark County’s Marlboro Township. Merriweather responded within four minutes and saw the deck on the back of the house in flames. Even more worrisome, a residential propane tank, about 4 feet tall, stood next to the deck, flames shooting out of its pressure relief valve where the gas was escaping.
“Police,” he yelled, banging on the door. “Your deck’s on fire!”
The woman who answered explained that her infirm, elderly mother was in bed in a back room. Immediately outside her mother’s wall was the deck — and the propane.
Merriweather’s body-camera recorded his efforts as he helped the woman to her walker, grabbed her oxygen concentrator and her medications, and guided her toward the door: As he does, the propane tank explodes, blowing off the back of the house, the concussion knocking him to the ground. All the while, he holds onto the woman and gets her, her daughter and their dog safely outside. Only three minutes passed since he arrived.
“I just did what I had to do, but I can tell you that I was terrified,” Merriweather said. “Even now, looking at the video, it gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
VALOR AWARD
Honors a police officer who, despite risk to his or her own safety, demonstrates extraordinary courage in protecting other people from harm
Officer Carl Harmon | Officer Ian Mansperger | Officer Jacob Velas
Columbus Division of Police
The violence began about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Bars had just closed in the Short North district of Columbus following one of the busiest nights of the year, Cinco de Mayo.
Officers Carl Harmon and Jake Velas were on foot providing security for a team of food-truck license inspectors when a shooting occurred just a few blocks south, in the 600 block of N. High Street.
As cruisers raced to the shooting scene, Harmon and Velas heard on their radios that two large groups of shooters were engaged in a running gunbattle and fleeing in their direction.
But no sooner had they heard the call than they had their own trouble: A group of young adults were taunting each other outside the United Diary Farmers store and fights were breaking out. Soon, it was out of control and Harmon called for help.
Officer Ian Mansperger, working special security duty at a nightclub a block away, responded. As he arrived, “an explosion of gunfire” rang out. Chaos ensued as people ran for their lives, screaming at the steady pop, pop, pop of gunfire.
Harmon, Velas and Mansperger sprinted across the street toward the suspects, who numbered between 15 and 20 in two opposing groups. They identified the active shooters and opened fire. Several shot back.
As Harmon reached the west side of North High Street, he saw that the primary suspect was on the ground, badly wounded, his gun to the side. But as he and Velas scanned for additional threats, the downed suspect raised a pistol and fired several shots.
Ducking for cover, Harmon returned fire. Mansperger, who had been chasing a suspect, heard the renewed gunfire and ran to help.
Once the threat was over, Mansperger kicked the pistol away from the gunman as Harmon secured his suspect and Velas attended to a woman screaming in pain nearby.
In total, 10 people were shot and two were killed. Hundreds of rounds were fired, and 13 guns recovered. No bystanders were injured. Columbus Police Lt. Brian Steele, president of FOP Capital City Lodge #9, said it was the most chaotic event he had seen in 20 years as a police officer.