Doug Wells
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Posted on: May 12 2013,8:52 pm |
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Published: April 26, 2013 Updated: 5:48 p.m.
Brea police honor its finest
By DOUGLAS MORINO / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Officer Robert Haefner, Detective Terrance Green and volunteer Bill Neessen were among 10 recipients earning top accolades from the Brea Police Department and the Brea Police Association.
Haefner earned the department's Medal of Honor, the top award given this year. The awards, handed out earlier this month at the Summit House in Fullerton, traditionally are given annually, but they were not distributed last year.
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Ten recipients were given awards handed out by the Brea police department and the Brea Police Association. The awards celebrated individual acts of heroism and commemorated years of service with the department. Officer Robert Haefner, at left,was awarded the Brea Police Department's Medal of Honor Award as well as the department's life saving award. From left are Haefner, Volunteer Bill Neeson, Officer Shannon Buckels, Det. Terrance Green, CSI Investigator Suzette Young, Det. Sgt. Stewart McCarroll, and Det. Debbie Stark.
JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
The awards celebrate individual acts and commemorate years of service in the department.
"Every single day, officers are out there doing fabulous work," police Chief Jack Conklin said. "This is an opportunity we have to acknowledge the best of the best for their outstanding work. The acts of these individuals were deserved and demonstrate the professional work that's going on at this police department every single day."
The department's awards – Medal of Honor, Life Saving and Distinguished Service – are vetted through an awards committee and then selected by the chief. The Brea Police Association's awards – Investigator of the Year, Uniform Officer of the Year, Support Services Members of the Year and Volunteer of the Year – are voted on by members of the association.
Bill Neessen
When Bill Neessen retired in 2001 from a career selling insurance for Allstate, he knew he didn't want to sit still.
"After I retired, I wanted to be busy," he said.
So Neessen, a longtime high school and college basketball referee, joined the citizen academy for the Brea Police Department.
More than a decade later, the 69-year-old Yorba Linda resident is still volunteering for the department, assisting officers with traffic control during accidents, fingerprinting children and patrolling neighbors and commercial centers and checking on houses whose owners are on vacation.
Neessen earned the Brea Police Association's Volunteer of the Year award.
He has logged 4,240 volunteer hours with the department's Volunteer in Police Services Program, which has 18 members.
Two years ago, Neessen helped spot a man who mugged a mother with her two children near Fairmont and Yorba Linda boulevards.
The suspect eventually was arrested.
"I like being out in public. People are friendly, and they appreciate what you do," Neessen said. "You get compliments, folks saying thanks for doing what you do and making the city safer."
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