The “Sikeston Proud Awards” are the city’s program for
employee recognition. Any city employee can be nominated by any other employee –
supervisor, coworker, or subordinate. Each month the city’s department heads,
HR director and city manager meet to review the nominations and select several
employees to recognize. For July and August 2015, the winners of the Sikeston
Proud Awards are the following:
DPS Sergeant Jon
Broom
Sergeant Broom was nominated
for his actions during two life threatening incidents. Regarding the first
incident, a supervisor said: “Recently Sergeant Broom responded to a residence in
reference to an infant not breathing. Broom met the mother at the door and she
took him to the infant child on the couch. The baby was unresponsive, no
pulse and not breathing. This was most likely the result of an accidental
oxygen deprivation while sleeping with other children. Officer Broom
immediately began CPR and continued first aid until the ambulance crew
arrived. Broom then drove the ambulance to the hospital so the EMS crew
could work on the infant and continue CPR. A short time later the
hospital informed our officers that the infant had a pulse.
“I spoke with the mother of
the baby today and she told me her daughter survived this incident, although
regrettably, not without complications. The family expressed their extreme
gratitude to Officer Broom for his quick action that likely saved this child’s
life. Our officers are faced with many different challenges throughout
their career. Few challenges are more frightening or more stressful than one
involving a lifeless child. Broom took quick action in this demanding
situation and his efforts saved the life of this child. I’m very proud of
him and others like him that work for our department.”
Sergeant Broom was also nominated, along with another
employee, for his cool-headed response to a dangerous pursuit: “Today Sergeants
Smith and Broom were involved in a shots fired call, and during this call a
suspect vehicle was identified. Sergeant Broom located the vehicle in the
area of the call and attempted to stop the car, which resulted in a vehicle
pursuit. During the pursuit the suspects attempted to run over Sergeant
Smith. Sergeant Smith showed great restraint by not using deadly force on
these individuals. These subjects were also observed throwing guns from the
vehicle during the pursuit. The pursuit was terminated on Tanner Street at
which time Sergeants Broom and Smith pinned the doors of the suspect vehicle
with their patrol vehicles as the suspects were attempting to flee the
area. The end result of their efforts was the capture of all three of
these dangerous individuals.”
Account Clerk Amanda Groves
Amanda’s supervisor wrote in her
nomination: “While auditing receivables, Amanda noticed a discrepancy in a
lessee’s account balance of $5,000. When the lessee was contacted their records
indicated they were current. Amanda
provided a history of the account for the past two years to the lessee and they
discovered an error from when they changed accounting programs. Payment of
$5,000 has now been received by the city.”
Skilled Worker Darren
Lowe
Darren is a skilled worker in our Street Department, which
means he is involved in everything from street repairs, to snow plowing, to
sign making. In his nomination, a supervisor said of Darren: “Darren Lowe is an
employee that is deserving of recognition. He is an outstanding worker and he
has been a real asset to our department by taking over the sweeper operations
and the sign making machine. He just has great knowledge of what we do in the
Street Department.
Street Supervisor Darren Martin
Darren was nominated for two
different events; his response to a fire at the compost site, and his work on
the city’s stormwater permit. Darren
spent many hours working with State inspectors reviewing the city’s policies
and practices, inspecting various sites, and writing reports for the city’s
stormwater permit. Regarding the fire at the compost site, a supervisor said of
Darren and another employee: “Yesterday after work, Captain Jim McMillen called
and alerted me to a fire that had ignited at the city compost site. I called
Darren Martin, who followed up with Captain McMillen. Darren quickly came to the scene as did Billy
Smith. They worked with the DPS fire crew, and after some water had been
applied, they began to use heavy equipment to cover the fire with sand. DPS was
able to leave around 6:15, but Darren and Billy stayed on site at least another
hour continuing to cover the fire with sand, and move it away from other areas
that could ignite. I know it was their job…but they were quick to respond, and
could have called other employees in to address it, but the two of them as
supervisors handled it themselves. I just thought it was a great effort.”
Public
Safety Officer Paula Nichols
Paula was nominated by two people in the Department of
Public Safety. From the first nomination: “I would like to nominate PSO Paula
Nichols. She works very hard and has a
lot of connections in our community that help Sikeston DPS with
investigations. I believe she is a
valuable public safety officer and would like the City of Sikeston to be aware
of this fact.”
From the second nomination: “I
would like to recommend PSO Paula Nichols for the first round of employee
recognition awards. PSO Nichols has demonstrated great work ethic and an
extremely high level of professionalism. Frequently, PSO Nichols is the
officer that can calm the most tense situations and takes time to console
victims and family members, thereby reflecting a positive image of the
department, the city, and herself. In addition, PSO Nichols always take the
time necessary to ensure she maintains the highest level of employee
relationships, and often seeks out ways to assist other officers and
supervisors with their daily duties. It is an extreme honor to have
such a proficient and personable officer on our shift.”
Communications
Officer Angie Rodgers
Angie was nominated by a coworker in a different
department who works with Angie on a regular basis and observed her work during
the Santie Oil fire: “I would like to nominate Angie Rodgers. She is a DPS
Communication Training Officer and has been with the city several years. In
addition to being a training officer she is assigned to the Mobile Command Post
which is an attachment of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Mobile
Command Post is called out at a short notice and responds to many different
events and tragedies. There is a lot that goes on behind the scene that
the communication officer does that many are unaware of and often goes
unnoticed. Angie was working the day Santie Oil Company was on
fire. Not to take anything away from the danger at the scene, but I am
sure not only was Angie assisting with the major disaster by contacting the
other agencies to come and assist, but she also had to handle the regular
police calls as well as the 911 calls with others in emergency
situations. Her stress level was probably off the chart but I can assure
you she stayed calm through the whole process. She is truly a “hero
behind the headset.”
Building
Maintenance Supervisor Billy Smith
Billy was nominated for two
different events; his response to a fire at the compost site, and his work on
the bandstand in Legion Park. Billy was involved in the design and supervised
the construction of the Keith Collins Bandstand in Legion Park. Regarding the
fire at the compost site, a supervisor said of Billy and another employee: “Yesterday
after work, Captain Jim McMillen called and alerted me to a fire that had
ignited at the city compost site. I called Darren Martin, who followed up with
Captain McMillen. Darren quickly came to
the scene as did Billy Smith. They worked with the DPS fire crew, and after
some water had been applied, they began to use heavy equipment to cover the
fire with sand. DPS was able to leave around 6:15, but Darren and Billy stayed
on site at least another hour continuing to cover the fire with sand, and move
it away from other areas that could ignite. I know it was their job…but they
were quick to respond, and could have called other employees in to address it,
but the two of them as supervisors handled it themselves. I just thought it was
a great effort.”
DPS Sergeant Ryan
Smith
Sergeant Smith was nominated for
his cool-headed response to an incident in which dangerous suspects threatened
his life: “Today Sergeants Smith and Broom were involved in a shots fired call,
and during this call a suspect vehicle was identified. Sergeant Broom
located the vehicle in the area of the call and attempted to stop the car, which
resulted in a vehicle pursuit. During the pursuit the suspects attempted to run
over Sergeant Smith. Sergeant Smith showed great restraint by not using
deadly force on these individuals. These subjects were also observed
throwing guns from the vehicle during the pursuit. The pursuit was terminated
on Tanner Street at which time Sergeants Broom and Smith pinned the doors of
the suspect vehicle with their patrol vehicles as the suspects were attempting
to flee the area. The end result of their efforts was the capture of all
three of these dangerous individuals.”
