Appreciation Awards Presented By Bernardsville Police Chief

Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine began his presentations for awards for police and community achievements by noting that he would miss some notable achievements by his staff in the past year or so.

"A lot of what we do goes unrecognized," the chief said.

But Valentine said he wanted to hold an awards breakfast last Friday to show that he knows "there's a lot of effort" that goes into what the department does.

Along with presenting about 20 awards to many of the department's officers — and giving out 11 plaques of appreciation to community members and organizations — Valentine gave out an award that covered the entire department.

That award was a citation for "excellent police service" during Hurricane Sandy in late October and early November. "You can say we are still responding to the obstacles that Hurricane Sandy put in our path," Valentine said.

The response began with preparedness before Hurricane Sandy, including planning and training well in advance, he said.

During the emergency, Valentine said officers found themselves doing everything from crawling through the dark (Patrol Officers Michael Grosso and Dan Buttel) to reach a resident who feared his house would collapse after a tree fell on it; to helping set up a shelter at Bernards High School and cleaning a garden hose that could provide drinking water to the two-thirds of residents who rely on private wells.

"There were so many things that the don't teach you in the police academy," Valentine said.

But other awards also mentioned educational and training achievements by officers, including training as Emergency Medical Technicians; serving as a DARE officer in local schools (Patrol Officer Paul Kelley); and meritorious service, such as Patrol Officer Robert Schlittler's powers of observation when investigating a break-in that resulted in the theft of golf trophies from the Somerset Hills Country Club.

Valentine also handed out plaques to organizations and individuals in the community, citing several for contributions during Hurricane Sandy. The plaques went to Somerset Hills Superintendent Peter Miller; Bernardsville Public Library Director Karen Brodsky; John Orfan, captain of the Bernardsville First Aid Squad; Cheryl Ferrante, Bernardsville recreation director; Cindy Beringer, Bernardsville recreation department; Larry Phillips, of the Bernardsville Department of Public Works, who services police vehicles; Janet George-Murnick, of the Bernardsville Office of Emergency Management, who supervised the Sandy shelter at Bernards High; and to the Bernards Lions Club, Friendly's Ice Cream of Bernardsville, the Bernardsville-Bedminster Patch and the Recorder Publishing Company.