Two officers honored, four take oath at Troy Council

By Pat Pratt

ppratt@timestribunenews.com

Two Troy Police Officers were honored during the City Council meeting on Monday, as the agency announced the 2022 Officer of the Year and the retirement of a 20-year veteran. 

Chief Brent Shownes presented Patrol Officer Jennifer Hautly the Officer of the Year Award. The honor is awarded through a vote of peers and approved by the chief.

Shownes said the recommendation was overwhelming due to her dedication to supporting the community through efforts such as Special Olympics fundraising, as well as her professionalism on and off duty. 

“It was primarily because of her positive activities, but mainly because she has a great working relationship with our community,” Shownes said. “She follows up after crimes are committed. Her victim advocacy, she finds out how they are doing and if there is anything they need in addition to the overwhelming but extremely satisfying work she does taking over the Special Olympics fundraising assignment.”

Shownes said for the past two years running, the agency has been the top fundraiser for its size for Special Olympics Illinois and attributed that success to Hautly.

“For our department size, we have been the top fundraiser in Illinois for two years running,” Shownes said. “The fact that we have surpassed departments three times our size in fundraising speaks to what a great job she has done.”

In addition to the Officer of the Year Award, the department recognized Patrol Officer Bill Dearworth upon his retirement after 20 years of service. 

“Very sorry to see him go,” Shownes said. “He’s a great patrol officer, he had a great reputation with our community. We are blessed to have a great community and an incredible department. I will miss him because he was a great officer, had a great head on his shoulders. He would help the public when needed and was just an all-around good officer.”

While the agency is losing a familiar face on the beat, four new officers took the oath of office at the meeting. Patrol Officers Tony Leone, Jeremy Bradford, Zachary Dellamano and Lindsey Snyder were all sworn in Monday. 

In other news from the meeting, council members passed a resolution approving changes to the city personnel policy. Those changes, City Administrator Jay Keeven said, were related to recent changes in state and federal employee laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and aim to bring language to accord with the latest information.  

Also passed was a resolution to enter an agreement with Lochmueller Group for civil engineering services for the Old Troy Road roundabout to be constructed at the intersection of Illinois Route 162. Design and related service by the group are estimated at about $21,000, according to meeting documents. 

Mayor David Nonn in his comments noted several events in Troy, including the Girl Scouts Toiletry Drive. Items collected will help Ministries Unlimited Troy food pantry. Collection bags were distributed on March 4 and will be collected 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Tri-Township Park pavilion No. 1. 

Nonn also noted the Spring Craft Fair, which will be taking place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran, 112 North Border Street in Troy. A State of Illinois Job Fair is also taking place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20 at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. 

Illinois High School Diploma classes are now being offered at Tri-Township Library. A pre registration event is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 30 at the library. Required for all new students, a Career Pathways Class is set for 5 to 8:50 p.m. on April 4 and 6. 

The diploma classes will be held from 5:30 to 8:20 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays from April 11 through May 30. 

The next meeting of the Troy City Council is set for 6:30 p.m. March 20 at Troy Municipal Building, 116 E. Market.