The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
The Westlake Police Department is pleased to honor five officers whose efforts exemplified the department’s commitment to its mission to protect and serve our community this past year. These admirable officers and the awards they earned through their work are as follows:
Officer of the Year – Pt. Dennis Funari (selected by his peers)
Blue Shield Award – Ptl. JP Toth (for most self-initiated arrests)
Employee of the Year – CSO Tim Gut (selected by his peers for this award reserved for non-sworn WPD employees)
Lifesaving Award – Ptl. Matt Craig & Rick Dudas (for their actions which saved a mentally-disabled non-ambulatory adult from a house fire on Feb. 13, 2020 — Video: https://fox8.com/news/westlake-police-officers-rescue-man-with-special-needs-from-burning-home/)
It should be noted that these selfless officers did not seek out recognition for their actions but deserve it nonetheless.
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- Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough with Lifesaving Award Winners Matt Craig and Rick Dudas along with Westlake Police Chief Kevin Bielozer
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- Blue Shield Award – Ptl. JP Toth (center) with Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough and Westlake Police Chief Kev-in Bielozer
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- Officer of the Year – Pt. Dennis Funari
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- Employee of the Year – CSO Tim Gut
