Burleson Police Department 2007 Awards

The Burleson Police Department presented its top awards recently at a Hawaiian Luau-themed banquet.

Top awards went to

• Officer Michael Owen, Officer of the Year
• Officer Craig Bastible, Rookie of the Year
• Sgt. Melvin McGuire, Supervisor of the Year
• Criminal Investigations Clerk Carol Driscoll Civilian Employee of the Year
• Officer Brad Schaefer, the Ofelia Blair Memorial Character Award.

Volunteers honored were: Sheila Wakeman, BPD Volunteer of the Year and Vicki McElroy, Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association Volunteer of the Year.

The BCPAAA also honored Officer Tiffany Bauereisen with the Officer of the Quarter and Officer Michael Owen with Officer of the Year.

High honors were awarded to six officers. Sgt. Bob Sherman and Officer Tim Engel won Life Saving Awards for saving the life of a man who was on the McAlister Road bridge over I-35W and threatening to jump. The officers were able to talk the man off the bridge.

Sergeants Diron Hill and Brian O’Heren earned a Life Saving Award and Medal of Valor. The two responded to an injured person in the pond at Bartlett Park. The teenager had cut herself with a knife. The two were able to get the girl out of the pond and to medical treatment.

Officers John Fields and Kasey Martin also earned Life Saving and Medal of Valor awards. The officers responded to a report of a suicidal person who had taken an overdose of pills. The victim was armed with a knife. The officers talked the victim into dropping the knife and she was taken into custody.

BPD remembers fallen officer Janice Vanderveer
on 20th anniversary of her death

PICTURED: Mary Kay Kinman, Sarah Kinman, Terry Vanderveer, Mary Kinman, Adam Vanderveer, Burleson Police Chief Tom Cowan, Vicki Ann Jones, and David Jones.

Thursday night, the Burleson Police Department and the family of Janice Marlene Vanderveer remembered the fallen officer 20 years after her death.

Police Chief Tom Cowan presented a Burleson Police Department challenge coin, which is given to each Burleson police officer, to Vanderveer’s mother, husband, son, sister, and sister-in-law. The coin is engraved with the International Association of Chiefs of Police oath of honor, “On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the constitution, my community and the agency I serve.” The flip side of the coin features the Burleson badge, encircled with the words “attitude, honesty, ethics, communication, common sense.”

The Dec. 27 ceremony was a small gathering of family, former supervisors, current officers, the mayor, and the city manager. Family members included Janice’s mother Mary Kinman, husband Terry Vanderveer, son Adam Vanderveer, sister Vicki Ann Jones and her husband David Jones, and sister-in-law Mary Kay Kinman and her daughter Sarah Kinman. Family reminisced about the officer’s bright red curly hair, her determination, and her humor.

On Saturday, Dec. 26, 1987, Officer Janice Vanderveer was placing flares to divert traffic from an accident involving an 18-wheeler when she was hit by a passing car. The next day, Janice died at a Fort Worth hospital on her 36th birthday. At the officer’s request, her organs were donated. The wife and mother of two (daughter Aimee was seven and son Adam was 18 months old) had been part of the Burleson force for less than seven months. The officer was survived by her husband, daughter, son, father and mother, younger brother, and two older sisters.

According to a recent report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and Concerns of Police Survivors, the year 2007 (with the exception of the terrorist attacks of 2001) was the deadliest year for law enforcement since 1989. As of Dec. 26, 186 officers had died. Eighty-one of those died in traffic accidents. Fifteen of those were hit by cars.

Janice Vanderveer is the only Burleson police officer to die in the line of duty. Her picture graces the halls of the police station. A plaque in her honor lies at the base of a flagpole in the front parking lot of the station at the corner of Renfro and Bransom. Janice’s name is engraved on the law enforcement memorial in Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

Janice Kinman Vanderveer grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from Haltom High School in 1969. She attended Tarrant County Junior College where she earned an associates degree in criminal justice.

Vanderveeer graduated from the police academy at Tarrant County Junior College (now Tarrant County College), then worked for the college’s police department before going on maternity leave for the birth of her son. In June 1987, Vanderveer was hired by the Burleson Police Department.

For more information about this release, call the public information office at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

Tim Ivy (right) with the Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, presents the Officer Of The Quarter Award to Sgt. Wes Routson.

Sergeant earns

Officer of the Quarter award

Burleson Police Sgt. Wes Routson earned the Officer of the Quarter Award from the Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (BCPAAA).

Routson was hired by the Burleson Police Department in August 1996. He promoted to corporal in August 2000 and then to sergeant in September 2002.

The 34-year-old sergeant was nominated by Commander Cindy Aaron because of the steps Routson has taken to ensure that the department is updated on changes.

“Laws, policies, and procedures are continually changing,” Aaron said. “It’s important that our employees are kept updated as soon as those changes have been made so that we can not only provide the best service to our citizens, but for safety reasons as well. Sgt. Routson spends numerous hours researching training information to present to all employees and he provides legal update classes on recent legislative changes. He has also been developing a mental health peace officer training for our officers so they can better serve those with mental disabilities.”

The sergeant also makes his classes available to deputies with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office as well as to officers with other agencies in the county.

Commander Aaron said Routson has taken steps to make the Burleson Police Department’s booking room safer for both officers and those in custody. Sgt. Routson located and ordered restraining benches to safely secure unstable and violent prisoners.

The BCPAAA is a non-profit organization consisting of past students of the CPA program who want to provide ongoing support for the police department. In addition to raising funds to purchase needed equipment for the department,  members wanted to create a continuing program to recognize officers who distinguish themselves through community involvement, specific community activities, or by any action which promotes positive relations between the department and the community.

To receive the award, an officer must be nominated in writing by any department employee or a member of the BCPAAA. An alumni  committee reviews all nominations and selects the officer for that quarter. In addition to an award plaque, the officer and his/her family also receives certificates from local businesses. Sgt. Routson received dinner from Logan's Roadhouse, movie tickets from Hollywood - South Freeway Movies, and a $50 gift certificate from Home Depot.

For more information about this release, contact the public information officer at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

Six-year veteran is promoted to sergeant

Brian O’Heren (left) recently accepted his stripes and sergeant’s badge from Burleson Police Chief Tom Cowan.

A six-year veteran of the Burleson Police Department earned three stripes recently.

Brian O’Heren was promoted to sergeant in October. The 34-year-old worked for the Crowley Police Department for four years and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for three years. He is certified as a field training officer and an accident reconstructionist. He has earned his advanced peace officer license.

The Burleson Police Department hired O’Heren on Sept. 4, 2001. O’Heren has been married for seven years and is the father of three. He is the only person in his family in law enforcement.

O’Heren is taking the sergeant’s position previously held by Sgt. Sean Bolton, who will head up the department’s expanded traffic unit.

For more information about this release, call the public information office at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

Wheelchair doesn’t get in the way of police telecommunication operator’s job

If Philip Lewis needs something off the printer, he uses his “reacher” to get it. If he needs to turn on the intercom, the “reacher” comes to his aid again. If he needs to get to the other side of the console, he moves chairs out of his way.

Doing things himself just comes naturally after more than 15 years in a wheelchair.

Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in theology and divinity. His father was both a pastor and a carpenter, so Lewis, who was hired as a telecommunications operator by the Burleson Police Department in April 2006, followed in his footsteps.

The former New York resident was working as a carpenter, on scaffolding at a grocery store, in 1991 when the scaffolding collapsed. Lewis fell 17 feet to the blacktop below. His co-worker, who was much bigger than Lewis, fell on top of the husband and father of two. Lewis suffered a spinal cord injury. He is paralyzed from the hips down.

His daughter, who was 5 years old at the time, doesn’t remember her father before he was paralyzed. His son, who was seven, remembers and understands how life changed for the family.

Lewis was in the hospital and in rehabilitation for more than four months after the fall. He and his family lived in an apartment in New York that couldn’t be modified to accommodate his manual wheelchair, so they had to move.

After two years of braving the snow, sleet, and ice in the wheelchair, Lewis said they decided to move to Texas in 1993. That’s when he earned his master’s degrees from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He also worked in sales at Lowe’s Home Improvement store for three years.

It was after Lewis had completed those degrees, and moved to Burleson from Crowley in November 2005, that he saw the ad in the paper for a telecommunications operator.

“I always had this idea of doing public service,” Lewis said.

The police department has had to make a few modifications to accommodate Lewis. A buzzer switch was moved down, manuals were moved from a top shelf to the console, and some files have been relocated.

Lewis uses the wheelchair ramp in front of the police department to get in the front door. He has been known to “exceed the speed” going down the ramp. When Lewis goes to Burleson City Hall, the front doors are wheelchair, friendly (and even crutch friendly) thanks to a button that opens both the outside door and the foyer door and holds them open for 30 seconds.

At home, a few doorways and the back deck had to be modified to make it accessible for Lewis. His vehicle is equipped with hand controls.

The telecommunications operator, who fields calls for police, fire, and medical assistance 10 hours a day, says the disabled want to do things for themselves.

“I would ask others to treat me with the same respect and dignity that I would treat them with,” Lewis said. “Don’t think of me as someone who needs help. I can do things for myself.”

Lewis said that even though he is very independent, he has “learned how to ask for help” when he truly needs it.

His wife is a special education teacher at a Crowley elementary school. Lewis describes her as both “amazing” and “practical” as well as a “hard worker.” They come up with practical solutions together.

Lewis’ co-workers don’t treat him any differently. Some steal his reacher, rearrange his work space, and use the reacher to drop things on his work area while Lewis is fielding a call. And, although he has degrees in theology, Lewis does not describe himself as a counselor, even though his co-workers sometimes call him “Dr. Phil.”

“Even with callers, I like to cut to the chase to get the information,” Lewis said.

For more information about this release, call the public information office at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

BPD has hired five new officers since February 2007

(Left to right) Randy Petty, Jae Berg, George Ferguson, and Cameron Pilgrim. Not pictured is Birchie Stillwagoner.

The Burleson Police Department has added five new officers since February with the latest, Cameron Pilgrim, sworn in during October.

One was a returning BPD veteran, one had served with another Johnson County agency, and three went through the North Central Texas Council of Governments Police Academy in Arlington.

Pilgrim graduated Oct. 5 from the academy. He is a Burleson High School graduate. Jae Berg and George Ferguson graduated from the academy on June 29. Berg is a Minnesota native. Ferguson is a New York native. He worked for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and at a private prison in Venus.

Berg and Ferguson were hired Feb. 1 and sworn in by Burleson Police Chief Tom Cowan in July. Pilgrim was hired May 7.

Randy Petty had previously served as a police officer in Keene. Petty was hired May 21.

Stillwagoner returned to the BPD on Sept. 10 after working for the State of Texas for a year in Child Protective Services. Stillwagoner worked as an officer, detective, SWAT team member/medic, field training officer, and bicycle officer for Burleson from 2000 to 2006. When Burleson hired him originally, Stillwagoner was an officer with the Crowley Police Department.

Four of the five officers were introduced to the Burleson City Council at the Oct. 11 council meeting.

Second Citizen's On Patrol class graduates

Thirteen wasn’t an unlucky number Tuesday night.

The Burleson Police Department graduated its second Citizens On Patrol (COPs) class Oct. 9 in the Burleson City Hall council chambers.

The 13 new graduates include Dennis Burke, Terri Cooley, Mitchell Duck, Peggy Gibson, Martha Markle, Rhonda Melton, Dana Mitchell (captain), Gay Null, Betty Offutt, Deborah Pruett, Peggy Starks, Cheryl Toomer, and Connie Wheat.

Since November 2006, when the first COPs class graduated, the citizen volunteers have worked 1,866 hours.

The COPs program is a partnership between the citizens and the police department. It is a 40-hour course. Following a five-week training covering the penal code, traffic code, city ordinances, patrol techniques, traffic control, vacation checks, business checks, and traffic hazards, each new COP candidate rides with a police officer for eight hours to learn the geography of the city, patrol techniques, and locations of businesses and city parks.

The COPs become the eyes and ears of the department. COPs go out in pairs on four to eight-hour shifts and patrol Burleson in their personal vehicles. COPs do not initiate contact with a suspect. The role of a Citizen On Patrol is to observe and report.

COPs are trained to patrol neighborhoods, parks, and businesses; report suspicious people and vehicles; report traffic hazards; perform traffic control at special events such as the July 4th fireworks celebration at the Hidden Creek Sports Complex; complete vacation checks and close patrols; co-host community events such as the public safety fair; host fundraising activities; educate the community about crime prevention issues; report city ordinance violations such as junk vehicles, curfew violations, and park violations; and patrol the major retail parking lots during the holidays.

Police Chief Tom Cowan did the honors in swearing in the COPs for handicapped parking enforcement Tuesday. The first COPs graduates went through a four-hour class in the spring and were already certified to enforce the state law. COPs are trained to recognize violations and write citations to put on the windshields. COPs do not confront drivers.

Citizen recruits must be at least 21 years old and graduates of the BPD’s Citizens Police Academy (36-hour course). COPs undergo a background check before they are trained by members of the Burleson Police Department. COP candidates can not have any felony convictions, no Class A or Class B misdemeanor arrests, or any DWI-related arrests. Recruits for COPs must have a valid driver’s license with no more than one moving violation within the past two years, must be of good moral standing in the community (at least two references are required), and must have vision that is correctable to 20/30.

Members of the first COPs class include Gena Bell, Jeremy Cooley, Tim Ivy, David Martin, Rebecca Martin, Meryl McClure, Vicki McElroy, Kimberly Morris, Robert Morris, C.M. Sanders, Jack Shelton, Patsy Treece, Sheila Wakeman, Willette Walter, and Tina Wood.

For more information about the COP program, call Sgt. Diron Hill, coordinator, at 817-447-5300, ext. 339, or e-mail dhill@burlesontx.com. For more information about this release, call the public information office at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

Advanced Citizen's Police Academy Summer 2007 Graduates

Pictured, (back row, left to right)are Police Chief Tom Cowan, graduates Becky Stringer, Gay Null, Cheryl Toomer, Vicki McElroy, Jack Shelton, Peggy Gibson, David Martin, Dawn Dixon, and Tina Wood, CPA Coordinator Jerry Stringer, and Mayor Ken Shetter. Pictured (middle row, left to right) are graduates Willette Walter, Betty Offutt, Sheila Wakeman, Rebecca Daily, Wes Williams, and Caty Atkins. Pictured (front row, left to right) are Peggy Starks, Gena Bell, and Martha Markle. Not pictured are Tisha Murdock, Rebecca Martin, and Jeremy Cooley.

Basic Citizen's Police Academy Summer 2007 Graduates

Eighteen students graduated from the Burleson Police Department's Basic Citizens Police Academy class on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

Pictured (back row, left to right) are Police Chief Tom Cowan, graduates Dana Mitchell, Mark Fleming, Connie Wheat, Renato Deaca, Dana Seals, Rhonda Melton, Sharon Loftin, Cory Land, Scott Daily, Lisa McDowell, Dan Luper, and James Brown, CPA Coordinator Jerry Stringer, and Mayor Ken Shetter. Pictured (front row, left to right) are Mitch Duck, Terri Cooley, Debbie Pruett, Michelle Helton, Kristy Gilbert, and Megan Meier.

Quarterly Awards

More than 30 officers and employees of the Burleson Police Department were honored Friday for their service to the community, years of service to the City of Burleson, and meritorious conduct.

The awards traditionally have been presented at the annual banquet, but this year the awards are being announced quarterly.

Those honored July 27 at the Burleson Police Department include (left to right) Traffic Officer David Wardlaw, Telecommunications Operator Karen Dawkins, Officer Mike Alley, Det. Tom Catron, Det. David Feucht, Traffic Officer Kevin Cordell, Officer Tiffany Bauereisen, Traffic Officer Shaun Kellum, Records Clerk Karen Goodman, Sgt. Sean Bolton, Administrative Secretary Lisa Cauthern, and Sgt. Diron Hill.

Ten earned meritorious conduct awards. Nine officers were recognized for their role in capturing a bank robber in May. Sergeants Sean Bolton, Diron Hill, and Melvin McGuire, detectives Tom Catron, David Feucht, and Don Raines, and officers Kevin Cordell, Nick Grace, and David Wardlaw captured a bank robber who was identified as being involved in as many as eight separate bank robberies in the area.

Records Clerk Karen Goodman snagged the 10th meritorious conduct award for her leadership and spirit in organizing the police department’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Burleson teams.

In that same vein, 26 were honored with community service awards for their participation in the Relay For Life fundraising event. The team members exceeded their goal to raise $4,000 to benefit the American Cancer Society’s mission to fund research, education, advocacy, and patient services.

Those honored include Records Supervisor Kathy Allen; commanders Doug Sandifer, Cindy Aaron, and Chris Havens; sergeants Diron Hill and Bob Sherman; detectives Tom Catron, John Brackett, David Feucht, and Shannon Kimberling; officers Mike Alley, Cody Austin, Tiffany Bauereisen, Tim Engel, Nick Grace, Randy Hicks, Shaun Kellum, Kasey Martin, Brian O’Heren, Brad Schaefer, Jody Trumble, and David Wardlaw; telecommunication operators Karen Dawkins and Megan Murdick; Secretary Lisa Cauthern; and Crime Prevention Officer Paula Ibsen.

Commander Havens was also awarded a community service award for his participation in the opening ceremony at the regional Texas Special Olympics hosted at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Maverick Stadium.

Those earning service awards include Officer Paul Lancaster for 20 years; Det. John Brackett for 10 years; and telecommunication operator Dana Carey, Det. Catron, and Officer Alley for their five years of service.

Citizens Police Academy Coordinator Jerry Stringer receives state honors.

An almost 7-year-veteran of the Burleson Police Department has been honored by the Texas Citizens Police Academy Association (TCPAA) with the Ray Ramon Award for Peace Officer of the Year.

Jerry Stringer, who serves as the CPA coordinator for the BPD and school resource officer at Burleson High School, accepted the award July 6 in Austin at the culmination of a two-day conference.

The award is named in honor of the officer who hosted the first TCPAA convention in 1993. The honor is awarded to a Texas peace officer who has contributed the most to the development of the CPA program during 2006-2007.

Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter calls Stringer the “driving force behind and champion of the City of Burleson’s Citizens Police Academy. Because of Jerry, CPAAA members have contributed thousands of hours of their time to help make Burleson safer. Our city is literally changing the way it approaches public safety.”

The CPA began in 1994 in Burleson, but faded away in 1997. In 2003, Stringer revamped the program, hosting an academy for senior citizens and a second one for students, and even included a mock murder for the senior citizens to work and solve.

In 2005, Stringer added an advanced CPA class to his curriculum. Stringer said Burleson is the only department in Texas to offer an Advanced Citizens Police Academy and one of less than 10 departments across the nation that offer advanced classes.

The award winner has taught more than 150 students, ranging in age from their 20s to mid-80s, through the Citizens Police Academies. Between two and three dozen Citizens Police Academy graduates make up the Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, of which Tim Ivy is president.

“Jerry is an excellent choice for this award,” Ivy said. “Jerry always puts the community and citizens first. He is very deserving.”

Police Chief Tom Cowan said Officer Stringer “is one of the strongest proponents of the CPA concept and has followed that drive through to create what I believe is one of the best CPA programs in the state.”

Stringer served the Harker Heights department and Killeen Police Department for 21 years. When he retired from Killeen as a lieutenant, he was in charge of the crimes against persons section and the youth services unit of the criminal investigations division. 

Stringer joined Burleson’s department in January 2001. He worked in patrol, moved to the community services division as a school resource officer eight months later, then took on the challenge to revive the CPA program in Burleson.

Commander Cindy Aaron said Stringer “began planning classes, advertising the program, and recruiting participants. He got several members of the department involved in the presentations and he received such an overwhelming response from the participants that he started the advanced CPA class. His class presentation on crime scene investigation has been requested by other city’s CPAs and a local college class.”

Commander Chris Havens said Stringer’s “knowledge, passion, and caring personality make the class a hit. His compassion for the community and Citizens Police Academy alumni is what drives the organization and assists the community and the officers.”

Stringer said departments that are successful today can’t be effective without involving the citizens. He said to do that, “we must gain their trust and there is no better way to do that than to invite them into our world through the Citizens Police Academies. To be nominated by those in our community carries a special meaning to me because it shows that we’ve earned that trust. Our CPA program would have never succeeded without 100 percent support from Chief Tom Cowan, a willingness by the other members of the police department, both civilian and sworn, to assist with instruction and training scenarios, and a super group of students who showed an eagerness to learn and become involved with the program. It truly is a team effort.”

Members of the Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (BCPAAA) named Burleson Police Officer Michael Owen as the Officer of the Quarter.

Burleson Police Officer Michael Owen (left) accepts the Officer of the Quarter award from Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association President Tim Ivy.

Owen is the second officer to earn the honor. The first Officer of the Quarter award went to School Resource Officer Jack Goleman.

In his nomination letter, Sgt. Roger Hall said Owen has “done an excellent job this year. He maintains one of the highest activity levels of the patrol department. He is eager to work and has a good attitude for police work.”

Owen trains new police recruits as a field training officer, assists with the Citzens On Patrol (COPs) program, and is a member of the police department’s SWAT team.

The sergeant said Owen has accumulated the most overtime for the department because of his “willingness to fill in for officers and cover shifts that would normally be left short. This type of dedication is why Officer Owen is a great asset to the Burleson Police Department.”

Owen was hired by the Burleson Police Department in October 2003. He earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2004 and the Ofelia Blair Character Award in 2005. During his almost four years of service to Burleson, Owen also has earned commendations for apprehending suspects involved in a robbery in Crowley, using physical force to protect his fellow officers when a domestic violence suspect was enduring drug-induced hallucinations, taking control of a suspect whom a fellow officer subdued by using a Taser X26 during an attempted suicide-by-cop call, helping a stranded homeless woman find a job and place to live, organizing the Red Vs. Blue charity football game, and participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Burleson event.

The BCPAAA is a non-profit organization consisting of past students of the CPA program who want to provide ongoing support for the police department. In addition to raising funds to purchase needed equipment for the department,  members wanted to create a continuing program to recognize officers who distinguish themselves through community involvement, specific community activities, or by any action which promotes positive relations between the department and the community.

To receive the award, an officer must be nominated in writing by any department employee or a member of the BCPAAA. An alumni  committee reviews all nominations and selects the officer for that quarter. In addition to an award plaque, the officer and his/her family also receives certificates from local businesses. Officer Owen received dinners from Logan's Roadhouse, movie tickets from Hollywood - South Freeway Movies, and a $50 gift certificate from Home Depot.