Medal Recipient Search
Jason Glendenning and Tyler Zimmerman, Missouri State Highway Patrol
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Medal of Valor
On July 16, 2016, following heavy rain, Sgt. Glendenning and Trooper Zimmerman were deployed on a jet boat in the Niangua River in Dallas County to search for potential flooding victims. There were swift-water conditions with lots of debris in the river. They found a raft with four occupants pinned against a large downed tree. The raft was taking on water. The officers, using their extensive swift-water rescue training, quickly maneuvered the boat and rescued a woman who had fallen out. Next, they maneuvered their craft to rescue a second woman who had been thrown from the raft and was tangled in the tree and could not keep her head above water. After getting all four boaters to safety, Sergeant Glendenning and Trooper Zimmerman returned to the downed tree to cut down large branches that were a continuing danger. While working on the tree, another raft with five occupants was swept up into the tree. One occupant was immediately ejected and the raft was sinking. Working as a team, the officers rescued all of them, and then saved a kayaker and a young girl on an inner tube who had been ejected and entangled in the tree and ropes. Acting swiftly and skillfully as a team, Glendenning and Zimmerman bravely saved the lives of several people in highly treacherous flooding conditions.
Adam Brannin, Jason Francis and Rusty Rives, Joplin Police Department
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Medal of Valor
Early on Aug. 13, 2016, Joplin Police Captain Rives and Officers Brannin and Francis responded to a call for a gunman firing multiple shots inside a residence. Before reaching the scene, the officers encountered the gunman firing numerous shots from an AR-15 into a church van at a traffic intersection. Francis stopped and provided assistance as Brannin and Rives pursued the gunman in a fleeing vehicle, who soon fired more shots into another vehicle. Next the gunman drove back toward the church van shooting location. Francis moved a victim with multiple gun-shot wounds out of the line of fire and prepared to provide lethal cover. Brannin and Rives continued in pursuit. The gunman eventually abandoned the vehicle while it was still moving and Brannin and Rives quickly captured him. In all, three victims at two scenes were struck by gunfire, with two of them sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. Three other victims sustained fragmentation injuries. When a gunman brought terror to the streets of Joplin, these three officers responded heroically and ended the threat of further violence. (Rives is now chief of the Lamar Police Department.)
Derek Chism, Brian Hollensteiner, Audrain County Sheriff’s Office and Austin Kings, Missouri State H
2016 Class
Awarded on: 11/28/2017
Public Safety Medal of Merit
On Oct. 1, 2016, Sgt. Hollensteiner, Corporal Chism and Trooper Austin Kings responded to an apartment complex in Farber, Mo. During a canvass of the complex, a resident said the problem could be in the apartment next door. Chism remained to get more information. Two women were inside the apartment in question, and sensing trouble, Hollensteiner and Kings asked to enter the apartment. Once inside, they were confronted by a man with a shotgun. The officers ordered him to drop the gun, but the gunman fired. Hollensteiner and Kings returned fire, striking the gunman. Chism radioed for assistance and all three officers provided first aid until EMS arrived. The gunman, who was a convicted murderer who had recently been released from prison, recovered and will stand trial.
Eli Dorsey and Brandon Sherman, Gladstone Department of Public Safety
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Medal of Valor
On the night of Nov. 20, 2016, Corporal Dorsey stopped a speeding vehicle with two occupants on U.S. Highway 69. Detecting the odor of marijuana, he called for backup and Sgt. Sherman responded. The vehicle’s passenger then fled on foot. Sherman quickly reached the fleeing suspect, who then pulled a handgun from his waistband. Sherman wrestled for control of the gun and was shot in the hand. As the suspect prepared to fire again, Dorsey fired his service weapon, striking the gunman, who succumbed to his injuries. Sherman, though wounded, secured the driver of the vehicle without further incident. During a traffic stop on a dark highway, Sherman and Dorsey – in the face of grave danger – disarmed a gunman. When fired upon the officers ended the threat to the community.
Thomas Lake, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Public Safety Medal of Merit
On the evening on Nov. 20, 2016, Sgt. Lake was in a marked police S-U-V, stopped at a traffic light in south St. Louis. A motorist pulled alongside and the driver indicated he needed assistance. Lake lowered his driver’s window. The driver then immediately fired two shots from a handgun with an extended magazine, hitting Sergeant Lake twice in the face. Despite being critically wounded, Lake was able to contact dispatch, communicate his location and then provide responding officers with a description of the gunman and his vehicle. The information helped identify the gunman and the vehicle. Later that day, officers located the gunman, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire. An investigation revealed he had been on a two-week crime spree and was wanted for murder and several armed assaults. Despite being critically wounded, Lake played a critical role in protecting fellow officers and the public by providing information resulting in locating the gunman who posed grave danger to the community.
Kenneth R. Belew, UPS Driver, nominated by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On Dec. 9, 2016, while making his rounds in Union, Mo., a woman handed Kenneth R. Belew a package with a message on it that read simply “Call 911.” Belew took the package without showing any reaction, returned to his truck, drove down the street and immediately contacted the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Upon the deputies’ arrival, Belew provided clear, detailed information about what he had observed. It was soon discovered that a woman and child were being held at gunpoint. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office responded with additional Patrol officers and the SWAT team. When deputies went to the door of the residence, the woman who was being held escaped. The gunman remained inside with a child. After negotiating with the gunman, he agreed to surrender without further incident. Belew’s calm and prompt action in a highly volatile hostage situation resulted in the release of a woman and child being held at gunpoint.
Jeff Lofton, Christian County Sheriff’s Office, Patrol Division Commander
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Director's Leadership Medal
Captain Lofton is Patrol Division Commander of the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, but Lofton is focused on far more than schedules, response times and offense reports. Lofton recognizes community-involvement and engagement are essential to public safety. Captain Lofton’s duties include efforts to educate the public on community law enforcement issues, training citizens on how to better protect themselves and promoting a safer community. Through his leadership of community efforts like the Citizen’s Academy, the Youth Academy, the Women’s Self-Defense Program and the Active-Shooter Response Program, Captain Lofton has excelled at breaking down barriers to communication, developed greater trust between citizens and law enforcement and raise the level of public safety.
Garon P. Mosby, St. Louis Fire Department Command Staff Officer for Public Affairs, Community Engage
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Director's Leadership Medal
Upon his assignment to his position, Captain Mosby set out to fundamentally remake the way the position functions to better serve the public, the media and to elevate the level of safety for the entire community. Mosby is committed to greater access, transparency and utilizing new technology. He has built personal relations with the media, including inviting them to participate in recruit training to better understand the challenges of the profession. He built and sustained relationships within the community and has found new ways to deliver fire prevention messages and critical public safety information to the public. Mosby’s efforts have not only resulted in increased fire safety in St. Louis, and a positive image of the department, it has led fire departments across the nation and even internationally to follow the St. Louis Fire Department on social media and adopt similar outreach efforts.
Tommy St. John, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Lead Tracker for Clay County Veterans and Drug Courts
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Director's Leadership Medal
In his position, Captain St. John oversees a special unit of law enforcement officers who monitor all Veterans and Drug court participants. Understanding the critical role of not just accountability, but trust and understanding, St. John insists that his team members build relationships with the offenders, as well as their family, friends and neighbors, individuals critical in gathering information that can affect the outcome of a case. St. John is not anchored to a desk. He is constantly in the field, leading his team and partner agencies by example. He also preaches “catching them doing good,” by which he means advocating just as emphatically for those who are doing right as he does against those who are doing wrong. St. John is making a positive difference in his community and, in the words of Seventh Judicial Circuit Judge Shane T. Alexander, is “tireless in his dedication and exemplary in the performance of his duties.”
Chief Michael T. Force (Retired), Lake Saint Louis Police Department
2016 Class
Awarded on: 10/28/2017
Hall of Fame Award
For a quarter-century, Michael Force was the innovative chief of the Lake Saint Louis Police Department. Under his outstanding leadership, the Lake Saint Louis Police Department grew from 11 officers into a highly professional and respected department with three times that number of officers when he retired in August. As a retired Marine Captain with service at military installations around the globe, Chief Force insisted upon strong values and community involvement from sworn officers and civilian employees. Chief force also took a personal interest in the lives of youth, and regularly personally intervened to help turn lives around. Always engaged with community partners, Chief Force also served as President of the Missouri Police Chiefs’ Association, Chairman of the Missouri Police Chiefs’ Charitable Foundation, Chairman of the Missouri Police Officer Standards and Training Commission, and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Image and Ethics Committee.