The West Bloomfield Police Department recently presented awards to one citizen and two members of the police department as part of the department awards and citations process. Any officer in the department can nominate someone for an award. The awards recognize exceptional performance, achievement, and actions that contribute to the prevention or solution of a serious crime; the apprehension of a dangerous criminal; or other meritorious behavior such as the saving of a life. The nominations are presented to a board consisting of two police officers and one command officer. The board reviews the nominations and then votes on the type of award, if any, that will be given. The award recipients are:

Marlon Benson, off-duty Oak Park police officer, received a Civilian Citation for diving into a pool to assist a drowning victim and performing CPR until the paramedics arrived.  These actions contributed to the victim’s eventual recovery. 

Molly Preston, West Bloomfield Police Department Records Bureau Supervisor, received a Civilian Citation for providing critical information to the detective bureau regarding an unsolved bank robbery.  The information provided permitted the detectives to identify and eventually obtain an arrest warrant for the responsible person in the crime.

Detective Brad Boulet received a Certificate of Merit for his thoroughness, conscientiousness, determination, and initiative involving the arrests of subjects who were responsible for numerous home invasions. 

On behalf of Chief Michael Patton and the West Bloomfield Police Department, a special thank you to the recipients for making West Bloomfield a safer place to live and work. 

Note: This announcement from the West Bloomfield Police Department was received and posted by West Bloomfield Patch.