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2002 Police Officer of the Year

Indiana State Police Sergeant and Camby Resident E. Henry “Chip” Sunier Receives Highest Honor in Law Enforcement for Risking His Life to Rescue Victims of a Boating Accident; Ten Additional Officers Honored for Outstanding Service; All to be Featured on Badge of Courage October 20 on COURT TV

New York, September 26—Sgt. E. Henry “Chip” Sunier of the Indiana State Police has been named the 2002 Police Officer of the Year by PARADE Magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for rescuing five people who were involved in a boating accident.

The highest honor in law enforcement, the Police Officer of the Year Award, which is announced in this Sunday's issue of PARADE, will be presented to Sgt. Sunier, 55, at a ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in Minneapolis during the 109th annual IACP Convention. Ten additional officers will receive honorable mention. All the award-winning officers will be featured Sunday, October 20, at 10:00 p.m. EST and PST in Badge of Courage: Police Officer of the Year, a special program on Court TV to be hosted by Gordon Clapp of NYPD Blue.

Sunier is being honored for rescuing two couples and an infant from a boat that was perched at the edge of a dam on the White River near Indianapolis. Kirk and Kim Medders and their son Elias, and friends Sarah and Mark Payton, were boating in June 2001. Both women were pregnant. The outboard motor of their 14-foot boat struck an object in the water, and the propeller was lost.

As the boat was about to drift over a dam, it caught on a tree and spun around backwards with its front pointing straight up.

“We called 911 on our cell phone,” says Kim. “First they tried a boat rescue, but the water was running too fast.” After another rescue attempt failed, Sgt. Sunier and a helicopter pilot, First Sgt. John Kelley, 55, were called to the scene.

“When we got overhead, my heart jumped,” says Sunier. “I had never seen anything like this.” He stood on the skid of the helicopter and helped the boaters to safety. The ordeal took more than two hours.

“These guys are our heroes,” says Kim. “When they arrived, we were tired, scared and going into shock. They were at their best when we were at our worst.” For his efforts, Sgt. Kelly received the Silver Star for valor from the Indiana State Police and the Red Cross Life Saving Award.

“It’s funny,” says Sunier, “as bad as it was, I was not scared or nervous. I felt like John and I were meant to save these people that day.”

Sunier will be introduced to the IACP General Assembly on October 8. He also will receive a plaque and a diamond-studded gold lapel pin from Larry Smith, who has represented PARADE at Police Officer of the Year functions for 20 years.

Ten recipients of honorable mention will also be on hand to accept their awards. They are:

  • Special Investigator Erik Podszus of the New York State Attorney General’s Office for his heroic actions during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 in New York City. As the second plane hit the World Trade Center, Podszus, 46, pulled several people to safety, giving first aid amid falling debris and bodies. When the first tower collapsed, he moved several of the injured up against the wall of the Millenium Hilton. He then headed into the dense cloud of debris, fire, glass and smoke to rescue a young woman and two injured men;
     
  • Sgt. John McKillop, 40, of the Glendale, Calif., Police Department for his tenacity and dedication in investigating the murders of as many as 300 hospital patients. He headed the task force that eventually induced a nurse, Efren Saldivar, to confess to the murders. During the four-year investigation, McKillop exhumed 20 bodies for testing, contacted experts and interviewed thousands of witnesses and family members;
     
  • Sgt. Bob Kolenda of the Overland Park, Kan., Police Department for his actions during an arrest of two men that turned into a shootout. Kolenda, 46, was shot in the jaw by a man who was wanted for murder. Though seriously wounded, he fired back, hitting the murder suspect three times. He then helped arrest the other man. Kolenda spent 11 days in the hospital with a damaged voice box and jawbone, as well as bullet fragments in his lung;
     
  • Detective John Young of the Delray, Fla., Police Department, for his work against online sexual predators. He charged nine offenders with felony violations in the last year. Posing as young boys and even girls on the Web, Detective Young also caught 12 other Internet pedophiles, including one man who received a 12-year sentence for sending pornography to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl;
     
  • San Francisco Police Officers Angela Freeman and Michael Wolf for their actions during an attempted arrest that turned into a shootout. On Nov. 11, 2001, the officers attempted to arrest two men and a woman who were looting a construction vehicle. While Freeman, 31, covered one of the men, the other man—who had a bulletproof vest and was armed with two pistols and a sawed-off shotgun—ran to his stolen SUV with his wife and tried to run down Wolf, 27. Freeman distracted the assailant to draw fire away from her partner. The assailant then turned his fire on Freeman and drove his SUV at her, hitting the police car. Wolf shot and killed the gunman, and the other two suspects were arrested;
     
  • Virginia State Troopers Myrlin Wimbish and Michael Middleton for their actions following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon. Among the first to arrive at the scene, the troopers repeatedly entered the burning building to rescue survivors. Middleton, 36, stayed until he was overcome and had to be taken to the hospital in critical condition with burned lungs and smoke inhalation. Wimbish, 52, spent the whole day at the scene. During one of his trips inside the Pentagon, he helped hold up a wall to allow an injured worker to escape. Wimbish, who was also badly injured, couldn’t return to work for four months;
     
  • L.A. County Deputies Lazaro I. Ortega and Caesar Cruz for saving the lives of three small children at Laguna Beach. The two dove into the ocean when the children were caught in a strong riptide. Cruz, 40, got two of them to shore while Ortega, 24, swam after a 7-year-old girl. When he reached her, however, she panicked and pulled him under several times. As Cruz swam to his aid, Ortega yelled, “I am not going to make it! Take the kid!” Cruz got the child to shore, came back with a flotation device and saved Ortega’s life.
     

Established in 1966 by PARADE and the IACP to focus attention on the dedicated men and women of our nation's police force, the Police Service Awards are given for specific acts of valor, as in the case of this year's top winner, as well as for consistent service above and beyond the call of duty, for the development of innovative programs in connection with police work and for significant service to the community apart from police work.

For more information, contact Meredith Ward, staff liaison, 1-800-THE-IACP Ext. 226.