The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office honored its employees and volunteers during an awards banquet at Tooele Applied Technology College on Friday.
Prior to any awards being handed out, however, members of the sheriff’s department heard from keynote speaker Chad Hymas. A motivational speaker, Hymas became a quadriplegic after a 2,000-pound hay bale shattered his neck while he was working on his elk farm in 2001.
Three Tooele County Sheriff’s deputies were among the first responders the day of his accident. Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer presented Hymas with a plaque that made him an honorary member of the law enforcement agency.
Wimmer noted the department chose last week for the awards banquet as it was National Law Enforcement Week.
“This is a week in which we honor the fallen, and yet at the same time, we celebrate the noble profession of law enforcement and public safety in general,” he said. “You guys represent what is the blue line that separates good and evil.”
Awards were given out to five employees in recognition of outstanding service in the past year, representing the sheriff’s civilian employees and investigations, dispatch and corrections divisions.
Detective Shane Starks and Corrections Officer Richard Maroney were recognized for their investigation that ended an illegal drug trafficking operation at the Tooele County Detention Center. Drugs had been smuggled into the detention center by a member of the kitchen staff before Starks and Maroney arrested several suspects.
Dispatcher Alexis Bullough also received an outstanding service award for her passion for the job, positive attitude and willingness to assist her coworkers, according to the nomination from the county’s dispatch staff. Corrections Officer Jamin Parish was recognized after he took over DNA collection duties at the county jail and for his work ethic and willingness to take on extra duties, Wimmer said.
Shannon Clough was recognized as the outstanding civilian employee in the past year due to her work as a civil process secretary and other responsibilities she has taken on outside that role.
“A lot of what we do can’t be done without civilian support,” Wimmer said. “They are often the unsung heroes in what we do as uniformed, sworn officers out there.”
Greg Martin received the Outstanding Volunteer Award for his work to keep the department’s citizen patrol running. The Citizen Service Award went to Jeff Hicken, who smashed a window and freed the driver from the cab of a semitrailer that hit the Oquirrh Mountain Inn sign last September before it was engulfed in flames.
“I think it’s people like you that make the difference and I want to say thank you,” Wimmer said.
Deputy Isaac Wayman received the Life Saving Medal after he found an unconscious woman in a vehicle on the side of the road who nearly died from asphyxiation.
The Sheriff’s Award, chosen at Wimmer’s discretion, was given to Deputy Nicholas Yale in recognition of his various drug busts in the past year.
“There are just multiple things that he brings to this agency,” Wimmer said. “If you had a department full of Nicholas Yales, you wouldn’t need a sheriff.”
Awards for years of service to the sheriff’s office were also presented to employees with 5, 15, 20 and 25 years of employment with the department.