MPD Awards Excellence At Banquet

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Showroom at the Casablanca Resort was filled with Mesquite Police Department (MPD) officers and personnel on Thursday night, May 13. They showed up in full dress uniform, with their ‘significant others’, for the second annual MPD Awards Banquet.

During the program Captain Jordan Bundy presented an Officer Down Memorial. He noted that it happened to be National Police Week, a week to honor men and women of law enforcement who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“I ask that tonight, when you think of the line of duty death numbers, that you pray for the individual officers whose image is on your mind right now – that one that you think about at night,” Bundy said.

“Pray for their family, their spouse, their children, their brother their sister, their mom and their dad, who are feeling that pain tonight.”

Before the awards portion of the evening, MPD Chief MaQuade Chesley gave a few remarks.
Chesley acknowledged that the past year had been a difficult one for police across the country. A lot of events and perceptions had created negative feelings about police officers, he said. Despite this, he advised each of his officers be a positive part of the community.

“It is hard for people to hate up close,” Chesley said. “It’s hard for people to hate the police when they know who they are. What we can do better is get out there and talk to our neighbors. Let people know that we are the same as our neighbors. We are coaches, friends, family. We are just like everyone else.”

The MPD Employee of the Year awards were then presented. These recipients were selected by their peers, through a survey, circulated in each division of the MPD.

The recipient of the Police Officer of the Year award was Ian McOmie.
The Corrections Officer of the Year award went to Cody Thornley.
The Dispatcher of the Year award went to Kristabella Rowley.
The Animal Control Officer of the Year was presented to Alisia Leavitt.
The Records Employee of the Year was awarded to Teresa Leal-Flores.
The Supervisor of the Year recognition was given to Sergeant Wyatt Oliver.

Finally, for the second year at the banquet, the MPD presented a lifetime achievement award to an officer whose work has had a lasting effect on the community. That award was presented to Detective Ron Richmond who worked for MPD between the years 1996 and 2015.

Chesley spoke about Richmond being exceptional from the time he first came out of Utah Police Academy in 1986.

“Two weeks before graduation, the Utah Division of Investigations asked him if he’d be interested in working in undercover narcotics,” Chesley said. “Narcotics officers are known as being some of the best of the best. They have to be extremely hard workers because they have to live on ‘tweaker time’, as we call it.”

Richmond was assigned to the southern Utah Escalante area with the Four Corners Narcotics Strike Force. “He worked there for three years and worked over 150 drug cases with an extremely high conviction rate,” Chesley said.

After coming to Mesquite in 1996, Richmond was instrumental in starting the Mesquite Police Officers Association where he served as the union’s president for many years.

He was named as Officer of the Year in 2012 and was recipient of many law enforcement awards and distinctions. One of these, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office was a recognition for his involvement in “probably the biggest and most influential case in the history of the police department and the history of the city,” said Chesley.

“Ron is a major reason why the Mesquite PD is what it is today and why Mesquite is still a safe city,” Chesley added.

In accepting the award, Richmond gave a few words of advice to his younger colleagues. He urged them to be involved in their community and to get to know its residents and business owners.

“You have committed yourself to a calling that is greater than yourself,” Richmond added. “You’ve been given the opportunity to do the greatest job in the world. Appreciate it. Work hard in whatever you do. And have fun while you’re doing it.”

At the end of the evening, Mesquite Mayor Al Litman was asked to come to the podium and give a few remarks. Litman praised the excellence of the MPD.

“This is the greatest Police Department I have ever seen,” he said. “I’ve never seen such dedication before amongst officers and our support staff. The city appreciates you, believe me.”