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Yoder, Damron win department's top awards

Sgt. Kirt Yoder and Communications Officer Greg Damron

Sergeant Kirt Yoder was chosen as the 2009 Leawood Police Officer of the Year and Dispatcher Greg Damron was chosen as the 2009 Civilian of the Year at the police department's annual awards dinner on Sunday, November 8th.

Sgt. Yoder was promoted to sergeant in March of this year and, in addition to supervising one of the three patrol crews, was also given the responsibility of supervising the police officer training program. In announcing Sgt. Yoder's award, Chief John Meier read from one of the nominations that "it is not uncommon for newly appointed sergeants to 'ease' into the position, as many of the responsibilities can be daunting. Kirt, however, saw this new position as an opportunity to revamp the entire officer training program. In order to do this, Kirt invested many hours researching new programs, not only through the internet, but also by visiting multiple departments outside the metro area. After this research he made a decision on which program he wanted to move toward and produced a proposal to do so (which was adopted). Although early into the program, it has already proven to be an improvement from the previous program."

In addition his supervisory responsibilities, Sgt. Yoder found time to again train and compete in the Guns N Hoses boxing event to benefit the SAFE organization, which provides money to the families of first responders killed in the line of duty as well as to support a number of the department's other charity works.

"In 2009, Kirt has continued to be one of the most driven employees at the department who is always looking for ways to not only improve his performance, but the department's as well," said his nominators.

In nominating his co-worker, Greg Damron, for the Civilian of the Year Award, Tim Klaassen noted that "while others talk about the extra mile being their standard, Greg puts that motto into practice. He is an invaluable resource for anything involving the CAD (computer aided dispatch) system and his Access program is a masterful work of his own design which eases the retrieval of information from several separate databases."

Besides his work within the city, it was noted that Damron has worked with the cities of Olathe, Shawnee and most recently Prairie Village on customizing their CAD systems within the Integraph Records Management system. He has also represented the communications unit in speaking to the Citizens Academy and served as a training officer for new communications officers.

"Besides all the work he does outside the duties of his job description," Klaassen continued, "Greg has set himself apart by his hard work, vast knowledge and winning attitude. He is a model employee who sets the standard to which others look."

Several other employees were also recognized at the dinner. Officer Randy Rausch received the Top Gun Award for having the best overall score on this year's firearms proficiency event; Cpl. Shane Chambers and MPO Jim Herman received Letters of Commendation for their efforts in assisting the department in selecting a new handgun; and Officers Robert Mahon and Blair Gordon received Physical Fitness awards for posting the highest percentages in the department's Cooper Institute-based physical fitness testing. Other employees were recognized for their years of service to the department: Kelly Ratliff for 25 years; Tim Anderson for 20 years; Ken Whiteside for 15 years; and Nancy Kelley, Laurie Saunders, Mahon and Yoder for 10 years of service.

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