Police Department honors officers at annual ceremony

FRANKLIN/BINGHAM FARMS — The Franklin-Bingham Farms Police Department celebrated exemplary officer achievements at their annual awards recognition during the Franklin Council meeting June 12.

Each year prior to the distribution of awards, Franklin-Bingham Farms Police Department Chief Daniel Roberts, two members of his command staff and the union president go over nominations from throughout the year regarding cases and investigations officers conducted that might be worthy of an award.

Nominations come from a variety of sources, including other officers, the community and members of the command staff.

“I love this time of year. I love being able to talk about this for a couple of reasons,” Roberts said during the ceremony.  “Not only because we’re able to recognize their great work, but also to let the villagers know that there is actually stuff that goes on here in Franklin and in Bingham Farms that you might not be aware of.”

This year, the department honored six different cases to receive awards. Of these six, four involved loaded firearms.

Officers awarded departmental citations, and unit citations were given a ribbon and a certificate.

The first award Roberts announced was a departmental citation to Officer Derek Wiese and Sgt. Robert Mydloski, though neither was able to make it to the meeting for personal reasons.

This case involved a road rage incident on Telegraph Road, when someone pointed a gun at another vehicle and threatened the victim. Wiese and Mydloski initiated a traffic stop on Telegraph Road, south of 12 Mile Road, in Southfield, and secured the suspect, who was at first noncompliant. Officers eventually seized the handgun concealed under the driver’s seat and arrested the suspect.

“The officers did a fantastic job and were at the right place at the right time and handled a dangerous felon off the street,” Roberts said.

Roberts then recognized Officer Kevin O’Shea and Sgt. Justin Wells, who received a report of a possibly intoxicated driver. After a thorough search for the vehicle, officers found the driver passed out in a vehicle stopped partially on the front lawn of a residence. The car was still in drive.

These officers turned the car off and identified that the driver was having a medical emergency, possibly an overdose. After administering naloxone, the driver’s life was saved. It was later found that the driver had ​​fentanyl and marijuana in his system.

O’Shea and Wells received a departmental citation for saving a life and taking a dangerous driver off of the street.

Wells said these awards are a morale booster for the officers to be recognized for their work, especially for younger officers.

“It highlights the good that we do that the public doesn’t see,” Wells said.

Officer Jeffrey Gorski was complimented for his attention to detail by Roberts as he received a departmental citation for a case involving a traffic accident. Upon further investigation, this traffic accident turned out to involve fraudulent dealer plates. In addition to the fraud at hand, the driver was very uncooperative. Gorski’s thoroughness on this case is what earned a departmental citation.

Officer Christina Doolan received a Certificate of Commendation along with Bloomfield Township Officers Jason Follman and Jon Schlabach for a case they worked on as a team. This case involved a driver displaying a firearm as they were traveling north on Telegraph Road. The driver was taken into custody and confessed what his intentions were with the firearm during an interview.

A unit citation was given to Officer Logan Hall, Doolan, Officer Denis Berry and Gorsk; Bloomfield Officers Follman, Schlabach, Christopher Solimano and Brian Crane.

This case involved a domestic violence incident in which witnesses reported the details of the incident. Officers found the suspect’s car, stopped it and handled the case from there. The driver was a convicted felon who was carrying a loaded automatic weapon under the front seat of the car.

The final case Roberts announced was a violent home invasion that involved the teamwork of Lt. Michael Bastianelli, Officer Kimberly Bonacorsi, Gorski and Doolan, and Bloomfield Officers Thomas Box and Angela Carlson.

This case turned out to be a stalking incident involving a man from Louisiana who had been stalking a woman online for months and had broken into her home.

The victim was able to leave her home and dial 911, but she had to hang up before speaking. Officers responded immediately and used their skills to get him into custody without further incident.

Bastianelli and Bonacorsi received departmental citations, and all other officers involved received unit citations.

The full ceremony can be viewed on the village of Franklin’s Youtube channel.