The Marana Police Department held its annual awards ceremony last week at the Marana Police Department.
The Medal of Valor was awarded to four officers for their distinguished act of heroism. Sgt. Chriswell Scott, LPO Jimmy Rizzi, K-9 Officer Brad Barton, and Officer Esteban Norzagaray were answering a call for a welfare check on an individual who pulled a handgun on officers while running away. When he fired at officers in a heavily populated area, they returned fire and injured the suspect. After performing first aid, the suspect was treated for his injuries at the hospital and charged after release.
Two individuals received the Chief’s Citation of Excellence. Dispatchers Tabitha O’Brien and Joseph Riley were recognized for their outstanding performance during the officer involved shooting. As the only two dispatchers on duty at the time, their duties required extreme multi-tasking and teamwork.
Dispatchers TJ Olivito and Stefanie Farmer were both recognized for their promotion to Supervisors, Officers Dan Powell and Ira Sewell were promoted to Sergeant, and Sergeant Jacob Shumate was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Jeff Pridgett, a member of the Marana Police Department since 2003, was promoted to Captain this February.
The Records Unit received the Unit Citation of the Year for their work on transitioning the Marana Police Department from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system to the newly mandated National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS. This process started in 2018, and required innovation and dedication to troubleshoot, adapt, and train officers well into 2020.
See the gallery below for photos from the ceremony.
