Schererville honors detectives, officers, dispatchers and civilian staff at safety board meeting

The Schererville Board of Safety used its May 20 meeting to present annual departmental awards honoring detectives, patrol officers, dispatchers and civilian staff.

Kevin Waijner, the investigative commander, opened the awards portion by noting a strong year for the detective bureau: "In 2025, the detective bureau handled 807 incidents and filed 702 charges," he said, and he presented the 2025 Detective of the Year award to Detective Savage, citing the detective's leadership and casework. Waijner said Savage "led the bureau with 166 incidents" and highlighted major investigations that produced multiple felony charges.

The Life Saving Award went to Officer Ashley Tankos for an Oct. 25, 2025 response to a choking two-year-old on the 900 block of Willowbrook Drive. Corporal Tony Rubino described how Officer Tankos arrived quickly, performed life-saving maneuvers and monitored the child until fire personnel arrived; the child regained consciousness after expelling an object and was left breathing and alert. "Quick response and swift action saved the life of a 2 year old child," the presenter said.

Patrol Commander Michael Bork explained the patrol-division nomination process and read nominees from each shift before recognizing Tankos again as Patrol Division Officer of the Year for her statistical performance and on-the-job contributions. Commander Bork also read a recommendation for SOUTHCOM dispatcher Kara (transcript spellings vary) for her role tracking a suspect's cellular pings during a fatal-accident investigation, and he recommended administrative assistant Stephanie Boddicker for Civilian of the Year for diligent timekeeping and payroll work that supports a 52-person department.

What to watch: the awards highlight individual accomplishments and routine departmental metrics reported to the board; no policy or budget actions were taken as part of the presentations.