Vancouver Police Department gives awards to its own, others
Jerolyn Alie pins the Medal of Distinction on her husband, Vancouver police Sgt. Jay Alie, at the department’s awards ceremony. Alie was shot during a traffic stop in April 2009.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
In April 2009, Vancouver police Sgt. Jay Alie took a bullet to the chest at point-blank range.
This Wednesday, Alie stood before officers and community members as his wife, Jerolyn, pinned a silver medal to his chest.
Alie was awarded the department’s Medal of Distinction on Wednesday for his actions immediately following the shooting. Despite injuries suffered when a bullet hit his ballistic vest, Alie provided responding officers with vital information that later led to the capture of the shooter and the man driving the car, Lt. Steve Neal said.
“I see people do courageous stuff … every week,” Alie told dozens of officers, family members and community members attending the awards ceremony. “I’m humbled to be singled out as one of those.”
Honoring people, introducing K9s
In addition to honoring Alie, the Vancouver Police Department recognized numerous officers and community members at the Wednesday ceremony at the Water Resources Education Center.
Officers also introduced five new K-9s that are joining the Vancouver Police Department, the Battle Ground Police Department and the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.
The K-9s were all brought to the area from Europe and recently completed training to be narcotics-detecting and patrol dogs. The dogs are exposed to mace, Tasers and gunfire so trainers can predict how they’ll react in action. The dogs also are trained to detect drugs, search for suspects and protect their handlers, Lt. Amy Foster said.
As the K-9s and their handlers entered the room, one vocal German shepherd, Eron, whined eagerly throughout introductions.
“As you can tell, they’re happy about (graduating),” Foster said.
Retiring dogs
Two police dogs, Swift and Farley, were recognized for their retirement. Swift was in service for five years and took part in 82 captures and narcotics finds totaling 1,359 grams. Farley, also in service for five years, took part in 79 captures and narcotics finds totaling 1,359 grams.
The police department presented Cpl. Wally Stefan with the Meritorious Service Award for his work in solving a cold case. Stefan reopened the unsolved 1978 murder of Norma Simerly in 2002. He wrote a search warrant to obtain DNA from the murder suspect and submitted 419 items for DNA comparison. Earlier this year, Michael Hersh was sentenced to 33 years in prison for the crime.
Without Stefan’s hard work and dedication, the case may never have been solved, Lt. John Chapman said as he announced the award.
In addition, Safe Communities Task Force members Mick Hoffman and Kellie Henderson received Certificates of Recognition. Maggi Holbrook, senior computer forensics investigator for the Vancouver Police Department, received the Exceptional Service Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The department also awarded a victim/witness advocate with a Certificate of Recognition but asked that the recipient’s name not be published due to pending cases.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
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