The City of Cumming honored several City of Cumming Police Officers for their outstanding work in 2022 during its December 6th city council work session.
Police Chief David Marsh was joined by Mayor Troy Brumbalow and the Cumming City Council to present the Officer of the Year and Life Saving awards, as well as promote an officer.
The Officer of the Year Award was presented to Officer Tyler Burns.
“Officer Burns is always professional and never hesitates to handle any call for service,” Officer Burns’ supervisor commented in a press release. “Officer Burns comes to work every day willing to help his shift and to help the citizens of Cumming. Officer Burns continues to represent the agency with dignity and professionalism. I can rely on Officer Burns at any moment. I know any call for service he goes to will be handled professionally and be investigated thoroughly.”
Other nominees for the Officer of the Year Award were Officers Josh Bagwell, Jonathan Fitzpatrick, and Coy Turner.
The Life Saving Award was given to Sgt. Sabastian Strano. Officer Starno was recognized for an incident from May 2022. During the incident, units responded to a medical emergency call of a young woman that was reportedly not breathing and had turned blue in the parking lot of a local restaurant. . When Sgt. When Strano arrived on scene, another patron of the restaurant, who had CPR training, was actively giving chest compressions. Sgt. Stano administered his dose of Narcan (Naloxone HCL) to the patient and applied sternum rubs until he detected a pulse and that she was again breathing. The patient, who had apparently overdosed on a Fentanyl product, was very weak and disoriented. Sgt. Stano remained on the ground with her, constantly reassuring her, until EMS arrived. He then assisted her up and into the ambulance.
Sgt. Starno also received a promotion from the rank of Sergeant to Captain.
Chief Marsh also recognized Sgt. Tony Hodgkins for two instances of outstanding work.
During the first situation, he waded into a creek that had become flooded due to severe thunderstorms to help a citizen whose home was flooded in order to remove debris from the home. During the second, Sgt. Hodgkins went “above and beyond” during a case in which a young boy was kidnapped by his non-custodial father. Through in-depth investigative work, Sgt. Hodgkins was able to locate the boy and father in Greenville, Ala., where the father was arrested. The boy was returned safely to his family in Cumming
