Tuesday, March 19, 2013
 
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Fruge, O'Hare, Spurling, Martin and Harding honored before city council

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[March 19, 2013]  Monday evening five men were honored in front of the Lincoln City Council at the regular voting session meeting.

Michael Fruge of the Lincoln Police Department was named the 2012 Officer of the Year by Chief Ken Greenslate.

Fire Chief Mark Miller recognized retired Chief Rick O'Hare, Capt. Larry Spurling, retired Assistant Chief Tom Martin and Capt. Chris Harding for their humanitarian efforts.

The first presentation was for the police officer of the year. Greenslate recounted to the council that his predecessor, Chief Stuart Erlenbush, had began a process of cleaning out and doing away with evidence from old case files. He said the process included an audit of what was on hand and a determination of the proper and legal way to dispose of evidence.

It was a task that was not even close to being finished when Greenslate took over as chief. He laughed and told the council that he sought volunteers to continue the work. None had come forth, so he "volun-told" Fruge that he was in charge of the project.

Greenslate said there were thousands and thousands of pieces of old evidence, some dating back to the 1970s, that had to be destroyed. Greenslate said Fruge took to the job like a duck out of water and over the past two years had properly disposed of over 15,000 pieces of evidence and got the evidence vault in order. He told the council that in addition to himself, Fruge's fellow officers had agreed that he should be the 2012 officer of the year.

Greenslate finished by reading the inscription on the plaque before presenting it to Fruge: "You have demonstrated extraordinary performance and dedication to duty while restructuring the police department evidence vault. Your organizational skills made our evidence process more efficient while protecting the integrity of the evidence. Your diligence, professional attitude and strong work ethic did not go unrecognized."

Greenslate said Fruge has also already been awarded the highest honor from the Lincoln police: the Medal of Honor for his involvement in the shooting incident involving Michael "Tattoo" Knuth in the summer of 2009. Fruge was also honored by the Illinois State Police for the same incident.

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Next up was Lincoln Fire Department Chief Mark Miller with presentations of Humanitarian awards. Miller explained that some of the honors were a little past due. He said two of the firefighters being honored are now retired but were being remembered for their service in 2005.

The awards were given based on the work they did during Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav and the 2011 floods in southern Illinois. Miller said that MABAS, the mutual aid program the city is a part of, would be giving these men a special ribbon and medal to wear on their uniforms.

First up was retired Chief Rick O'Hare, who in 2005 went to Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Also accompanying O'Hare on that trip and being recognized Monday night was Capt. Larry Spurling.

The next person to be recognized was retired Assistant Chief Tom Martin, who was involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Accompanying Martin on that trip were Darren Coffey and Andy Dexter. Miller told the council that at the time, Dexter was with the Lincoln Rural department, but is now with the city. Coffey and Dexter were unable to be present for the presentation.

Finally, Miller called forward Capt. Chris Harding, who in 2011 went to southern Illinois to assist with the flooding situation there.

All four men were given certificates of appreciation and medals.

[By NILA SMITH]

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