Awards honor five local law enforcement officers
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
YAKIMA, Wash. — The Yakima chapter of the International Footprint Association this week presented its annual awards recognizing the officer of the year for several local law agencies.
The association, made up of civilians and police with the goal of supporting law enforcement, each year recognizes local police and corrections officers who are selected by their departments.
Recipients this year came from the Yakima Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol and Union Gap Police Department.
* Yakima police Officer Sam Masters was recognized for his professional response when he saw a homicide suspect going for a gun as he struggled with another officer in June. From more than 20 yards away, Masters’ running shot fatally struck the suspect in the head. A review committee that awarded him the department’s Medal of Honor found that Masters saved the other officer’s life.
Masters, 38, started with the Yakima city jail in 1990. He transferred to the police department in 2001.
* Corrections Officer Kevin Gentner of the Yakima city jail was recognized for his consistent professionalism and sense of humor in a diffficult job.
Gentner, 40, has worked at the jail for about three years.
* Deputy Jeff Perrault of the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office was recognized as “unquestionably one of the hardest-working deputies in this agency,” according to his nomination. Perrault frequently goes out of his way to identify and arrest suspects. One example involved a camera found in a towed car, which Perrault used to help solve 11 graffiti cases.
Perrault, 29, was hired in June 2004. He previously was an officer with the Toppenish Police Department.
* Trooper Barry Pilkinton of the Washington State Patrol was recognized for his handling of a wildfire last summer along U.S. Highway 97 south of Toppenish. He also led his Yakima detachment with 70 arrests of drunken-driving suspects and had one of the first felony drunken-driving arrests in the county under a new law.
Pilkinton, 32, joined the patrol in July 2001.
* Officer Stace McKinley of the Union Gap Police Department was chosen for being well respected among his peers and for being dedicated to serving the community. He earned compliments from residents who saw him handle a difficult arrest last year.
McKinley, 39, has been a Union Gap officer since 2002. He was the loss prevention manager at Fred Meyer before that.
Copyright 2008 YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC