The Castle Rock Police Department is proud to recognize the efforts and accomplishments of its officers and professional staff. On Wednesday, May 17, CRPD hosted its annual awards ceremony where it celebrated the achievements of its team over the past year.
“I am continuously blown away by the amazing work of our officers, dispatchers and professional staff members,” Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley said. “This ceremony offers a small snippet of the tremendous work our team does daily, and it’s one of many reasons why Castle Rock continues to be named one of Colorado’s safest cities.”
CRPD distributed 11 different awards to 29 individuals for accomplishments dating back to 2022. This included two Citizen Commendations, two Letters of Commendation, one Meritorious Unit Award, one Police Merit Award and one Police Achievement Award.
Additionally, seven officers were honored in three separate Life Saving awards. This included one instance where officers conducted CPR and utilized an AED on an individual who was found unconscious and not breathing.
“Our officers were first on scene and immediately began life-saving measures,” Commander Sam Varela said. “Once Castle Rock Fire and Rescue arrived, they continued these efforts and were able to transport the individual to a local hospital. Both fire and hospital staff said the person would not have lived had it not been for the efforts of our officers.”
As is tradition, Chief Cauley concluded the awards ceremony with the presentation of his One-By-One Policing Award, given to an officer who exemplifies CRPD’s vision statement of serving those in the community as if they are members of one’s own family. The 2023 recipient was Officer Scott Gillespie who currently serves as the school resource officer at Castle View High School. In addition to his work at the school, Officer Gillespie was instrumental in the creation of CRPD’s SRO-therapy dog program which has become a model for other law enforcement agencies around the state.
“Officer Gillespie truly exemplifies what it means to be an officer in Castle Rock,” Chief Cauley said. “He genuinely cares about his school community and working with students and staff to provide a safe and secure learning environment for all.”
During Wednesday’s ceremony, CRPD also recognized four new officers and one dispatcher who joined the team in the past year, celebrated the promotions of two sergeants and two corporals, and celebrated four professional staff members who started new roles at the department.
Due to limited seating, the annual awards ceremony was not open to the public.
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