Dover Office: Laura McDowell

On December 5, 2017, Officer Laura McDowell was leading an arrest team for one of her offenders. During the arrest, McDowell observed the offender climb out a window and up onto the roof of the residence. A perimeter was established, and Officer McDowell began trying to talk the offender down off the roof.  DSP was contacted, and several units responded within minutes.  When the troopers arrived, they noted the excellent rapport that officer McDowell had going with the offender and they decided to hang back and provide more perimeter security.  The offender made several statements about killing himself and wanting to be shot by Officers.  Officer McDowell maintained a conversation with the offender, and during this time the offender would become agitated and pace on the roof while yelling obscenities at the officers.  After about 45 minutes of Officer McDowell's conversation with the offender, he was finally convinced to come down off the roof.  Officer McDowell's calm, focused and effective communication skills in a very stressful and dangerous situation resulted in this case ending without any harm coming to anyone involved.

Hares Corner: Mathew Lemite

On 11/14/2017, Officer Lemite was leading an arrest team for one of his offenders for their recent overdose. During the arrest, Lemite detained the offender and then observed Heroin in plain sight; which led to an administrative search of the room. While the search was being conducted, the offender started to display signs of medical distress and ultimately began to lose consciousness. Officer Lemite began conducting CPR and was able to help the offender recover. Officer Lemite's actions helped to not only seize drugs off the street but to save a life.