Seven law enforcement officers from Berrien County have been saluted for their efforts to make the community safer. The Exchange Club of Southwest Michigan honored them with a banquet late last month. The honorees are chosen by their peers. The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department’s Deputy of the Year is Detective Sergeant Cory Peek. Undersheriff Chuck Heit tells us Peek does a lot of forensic computer work for the sheriff’s department. He was honored for an incident on July 5 of last year.
“The sheriff’s office was handling a complaint where a suspect had stolen a vehicle, and when they got into a short pursuit, the suspect ended up getting up on the roof of a house and later up on a telephone antenna,” Heit said. “In addition to his normal duties, Detective Sergeant Peek is also one of our negotiators. So, he was called and was able to talk the subject down.”
The Berrien County Prosecutor’s office honored the sheriff’s department’s Detective Thad Chartrand for his investigative work with the prosecutor. Also honored by their departments were Officer Eric Wolff from St. Joseph Township, Officer Wesley Springer-Grounds from Lincoln Township, Officer Alex Povenz from Benton Township, Officer Jacob Wright from the City of St. Joseph, Trooper Brock Belanger from the Michigan State Police, and Officer Kelly Wilkins from the city of Benton Harbor. The Exchange Club has held banquets honoring local police each year for many years.
