The Portsmouth Police Department had a busy year in 2022, and, to celebrate the successes of the department, they held an awards banquet for the officers in recent weeks at Ollies Bar and Grill.

“We have the banquet to show appreciation for what our officers do on a daily basis,” Chief Debbie Brewer said. “Most of the time, we are taken for granted. This gives the officers a chance to come, hangout, have dinner together in an unofficial capacity, and enjoy themselves with their spouses and work family. I believe this has given them something to work for and it has boosted morale.”

Brewer believes that positive results have come from this banquet, due to the fact that it gives the officers something to work toward throughout the year.

“The police department has come a long way in obtaining training and equipment needed to perform our jobs. When given the proper training and equipment, they have stepped up their game towards dealing with a multitude of problems that our area faces, Brewer said. “We are constantly learning and trying to better every day. This is the department that I want, and this is the department they want. Public trust is a huge part of being able to do our jobs effectively and I feel that we have come a long way toward the positive on that.”

Awards were given to offers who received recognition for their work.

“The Officer of the Year was Eric Morgan and the Civilian of the Year was Dispatcher Chris Howard,” Brewer explained. “These awards are selected by their peers. I am happy that they choose the ones who go above and beyond for these awards.”

The Chief’s Blue Shield Award went to Sgt. Andy Dawes, Officer Nick Shepherd, Officer Eric Morgan and Officer Kyle Galloway.

“The officers are top notch. They are go-getters and try daily to make this community better. All of the officers are this way,” Brewer said. “These officers just happened to be in the right place at the right time for their peers to notice the actions they took to get them the awards they received.”

As for the Blue Shield winning officers, according to Brewer, this recognition comes after a 27-mile pursuit in September that ended with positive results, despite the person of interest also being armed.

Brewer herself has never received an award from the banquet, but only because it just recently began under her control of the department. She formed the process to honor her officers and remains humble about her own position in the department as she holds up her staff.

“No, I have not, but we just recently started doing the yearly awards. I don’t look for awards for myself. The officers out there performing the job are the ones who need the recognition, not me. I am just happy being the leader of such a great group of people.”

The Portsmouth Police Department will continue this tradition next year, with a new location to host, and will celebrate the successes of another set of officers and civilians.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved