Grosse Pointe Park officers honored for exceptional law enforcement, community work

GROSSE POINTE PARK — Grosse Pointe Park’s public safety officers were recently honored for going above and beyond the call of duty in 2022.

At a Feb. 13 Grosse Pointe Park City Council meeting, Public Safety Director Bryan Jarrell presented officers with annual awards based on incidents from last year.

“Tonight, I get to do one of my favorite things as chief, which is to recognize the great work the men and women (of the department) do every day,” Jarrell said.

Officer James Thompson was honored with a department citation for addressing a situation involving a nonverbal young adult with special needs at a home on Three Mile Drive Feb. 10, 2022. Jarrell said police were called to the home after the mother reported that her daughter refused to take her medication and had become “physically assaultive” with family members. The young woman was said to be agitated and tried to bite officers. Jarrell said Thompson assessed the situation and retrieved the comfort bag that each squad car had recently obtained. The bag contained items such as water, snacks, a weighted blanket and noise-canceling headphones to comfort someone with autism or another condition. Jarrell said Thompson was able to calm the young woman with the blanket and headphones to the point where she was willing to take her medication not long afterward and stay at her home.

Sgt. Kevin Remus was given a department commendation for apprehending a bike thief in the act July 10, 2022, in the area of Warren Avenue and Alter Road. Jarrell said Remus not only caught the suspect and recovered the bike — which had been taken from a detached garage in the 1300 block of Berkshire Road — but also recovered a second bike that had been stolen earlier in the day from the Park but hadn’t yet been reported as missing.

Jarrell said this incident benefited from Remus “being very persistent — which he always is.”

Several members of the department — dispatcher Dawn Kelly, Sgt. Michael Miller and officer Adam Bremer — were given a unit commendation for their work identifying and arresting car theft suspects who turned out to be part of an organized car theft ring known as “The KIA Boys,” Jarrell said. The incident started when police attempted to pull over the drivers of four stolen vehicles Aug. 3.

“The officers and dispatcher involved acted in unison, as a team, and apprehended a wanted violent felon safely and, in doing so, prevented further vehicle thefts in Grosse Pointe Park,” Jarrell said.

A case involving a senior citizen who had been victimized by a contractor was especially moving, as Jarrell said it spoke to “the quality of these people” in the department. Officers Emily McGrath, Scott Gilchrist and Chris Muklewicz became involved as detectives were investigating the case of a contractor who had moved into the victim’s home, was threatening her with physical harm, was extorting her, was pawning her jewelry and was driving her 2022 Lincoln Nautilus, Jarrell said. He said detectives were finally able to arrest the suspect, but he had trashed the Lincoln, leaving it “disgustingly dirty,” Jarrell said.

Gilchrist, McGrath and Muklewicz brought the vehicle to the department and spent two hours cleaning it out for the victim, a task that included removing biohazards and drug paraphernalia. When they brought the vehicle back to the woman’s home, they cleaned out an equally dirty room that the suspect had despoiled while staying in her home. Jarrell said, in the process, the officers discovered additional bags of jewelry that belonged to the victim that appeared to have been about to be pawned by the suspect.

City officials were impressed with the work done by the department’s personnel.

“We do have a rock-star team, and we’re so proud of the great work that gets done every single day,” Mayor Michele Hodges said.