Westland Police Ofc. Erik Monson, far left, receives his award as Westland Officer of the Year from Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik during special award ceremonies last week. The event highlighted and recognized some of the many acts of heroism and excellent police work for the prior year and recognized the importance of the day-to-day public service duties and crime deterrent measures the department performs. Those daily activities, officials said, are crucial to the continued downward trends in crime in the Westland community. In addition to recognizing and rewarding the men and women of the police department, several awards were presented to citizens, including former City Councilman and current Police and Fire Civil Service Commission President Dewey Reeves; Pat Stropes of Families Against Narcotics and Civilian Award winner Delia Cryor. The department also said goodbye to retiring Lt. Steve Bird and Lt. Brian Humphrey and congratulated newly-promoted Lt. David Skeans.
