Employee & Volunteer of the Year Awards

In 2004, the Woodbury Public Safety and Crime Prevention Board inaugurated a program to recognize the efforts of our public safety employees and volunteers through an annual awards presentation. The recognition occurs at the annual fundraising dinner that is hosted by the Woodbury Public Safety Board. In 2009, the dinner and employee recognition will be held on Tuesday, September 8th. The awards recognize just a small portion of the accomplishments by public safety personnel that make Woodbury a better place to live, work, shop and visit. We value all of our public safety workers and their contribution to the Woodbury Public Safety Department and the City of Woodbury.

Any Woodbury Public Safety employee or volunteer may submit a nomination for these awards.

The Award Categories Are:

• Police Officer of the Year
• Firefighter/EMT of the Year
• Public Safety Employee of the Year
• Don McGorman Public Safety Volunteer of the Year

Previous Year's Winners:

2008

• John Altman
• Bill Nicklay
• Michele Jurjans
• Garrett Kissner

2007

• Scott Melander
• Brad Estochen
• Polly Wessels
• Terri Smith

2006

• Kim Shogren
• Craig Erhard
• Wendy Simone
• Larry Murphy

2005

• Brett Billmeyer
• Darrel Blomberg
• Patty Cowell
• Mike Nelson

2004

• Jay Alberio
• Greg Schlichting
• Kim Peterson
• Greg Ramsdell

To submit a nomination, please read the criteria and submission guidelines for the award on this page. If all criteria are met, download the form at the bottom of this page and mail it to the address printed on the form.

Award Descriptions & Criteria

The award nominees will be reviewed based on their consistent adherence to the department’s We HELP (Helpful, Effective, Looking ahead, and Professional) philosophy as well as the following:

Police Officer of the Year

This award is presented to a Woodbury police officer who has demonstrated achievements in one or more of the following areas:

• Continually improving services to the community
• Strengthening police relations and promoting community involvement
• Effectively using resources
• Enhancing communications within and cooperation among agencies
• Developing creative and innovative approaches that promote excellence in law enforcement
• Demonstrating leadership among their fellow public safety employees or volunteers

To be eligible for this award the nominee must have worked as a licensed Woodbury police officer (full or part-time) during a portion of the year leading to the award.

Firefighter/EMT of the Year

This award is presented to a Woodbury firefighter or Woodbury fire department EMT who has demonstrated achievements in one of the following areas:

• Continually improving services to the community
• Strengthening fire or EMS relations and promoting community involvement
• Effectively using resources
• Enhancing communications within and cooperation among agencies
• Developing creative and innovative approaches that promote excellence in firefighting or EMS
• Demonstrating leadership among their fellow public safety employees or volunteers

To be eligible for this award the nominee must have worked as a Woodbury firefighter or Woodbury fire department EMT (full-time or paid on-call) during a portion of the year leading up to the award.

Public Safety Employee of the Year

This award is presented to a full or part-time Woodbury public safety employee who provides support to our public safety system and has demonstrated achievements in one of the following areas:

• Continually improving services to the community
• Strengthening public safety relations and promoting community involvement
• Effectively using resources
• Enhancing communications within and cooperation among agencies
• Developing creative and innovative approaches that promote excellence in public safety
• Demonstrating leadership among their fellow public safety employees or volunteers

To be eligible for this award the nominee must have worked as a full or part-time Woodbury public safety employee during a portion of the year leading up to the award. Positions associated with this award include, but are not limited to, secretary/dispatcher, investigative aide, administrative assistant, community service officer, part-time paramedic, or any paid position that is not recognized by the other awards.

Don McGorman Public Safety Volunteer of the Year

This award is presented to a full or part-time Woodbury public safety volunteer that provides support to our public safety system and has demonstrated achievements in one of the following areas:

• Continually improving services to the community
• Strengthening public safety relations and promoting community involvement
• Effectively using resources
• Enhancing communications within and cooperation among agencies
• Developing creative and innovative approaches that promote excellence in public safety
• Demonstrating leadership among their fellow public safety employees or volunteers

To be eligible for this award the nominee must have volunteered for the Woodbury Public Safety Department during a portion of the year leading up to the award. Positions associated with this award include, but are not limited to, reserve officer, community justice program volunteers, public safety board members, park patrol members, explorers, interns or any uncompensated position that benefits a public safety good. The nominee can not have been employed as a paid Woodbury Public Safety during the time of the recognized volunteer work.

Additional Guidelines

• All nominations must be submitted on the designated form and received by the deadline of August 1st.
• All persons nominated must have been employed or held volunteer status for the Woodbury Public Safety Department sometime during the award period.
  Additional information that supports the nomination is encouraged.
• The review committee will classify all nominations for each award category as "nominated", "finalist" or "award recipient".
• The award recipients and guest will be the honored guests of the Public Safety Director at the dinner/awards program.
• Group nominations will not be accepted.
• The review committee will consist of one Public Safety Board member, and four past recipients of the awards.
• Nominating employees and volunteers must identify themselves on the application, but may indicate that they do not wish to be recognized in the awards program.
• The review committee may seek further information to support a nomination.
• Nominations will be received through August 1st each year.
• The period for consideration of nominating actions is August 1st to July 31st
• Actions that occur outside of the annual award period may be considered when the action demonstrates a pattern of accomplishments in addition to an action that occurred during the period considered for the annual award.
• Award recipients may elect to not be publicly recognized if the disclosure of their actions may have negative personal consequences.

Nomination Application

If all criteria for the award are met, please print and complete the form below and mail it to:

Chris Murphy
Woodbury Public Safety Department
2100 Radio Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125

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Kargel Award

The Kargel Memorial Award was established by Mrs. Lucille Kargel in memory of her late husband. The award recognizes citizens who perform extraordinary acts in the area of public safety within the city of Woodbury. Anyone in the community can nominate an individual to receive the Kargel award. The Kargel Award committee of the Public Safety Board reviews all nominations and arranges for presentation of the award upon approval. For more information on the Kargel Memorial Award, or to nominate someone, please contact the Board president at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it