NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Metro Nashville Police Department honored eight outstanding members of their team by awarding them with the title of 2018 Employees of the Year.
Chief Steve Anderson honored the MNPD members who helped to make Nashville safer over the last year during a ceremony on Friday.
“Identifying award winners in this agency is extremely difficult because of all the great work being performed day after day," Anderson said, "I am proud of these eight people and all of the men and women of the police department they represent.”
The MNPD 2018 Employees of the Year are as follow:
Police Officers of the Year: Benjamin Spees and Alex Lampley
Patrol Officers of the Year Justin Coyle and Blake McKay
Officers Spees and Lampley played an integral role in apprehending Queshan Brooks, the man who shot his stepmother, and two young stepsisters, and a carjacking victim on January 12, 2018.
Less than one hour after the carjacking, Officers Lampley and Spees located the stolen vehicle but it was empty. Officer Lampley, however, noticed footsteps in the snow and saw a man walking in the distance ahead of them on 52nd Avenue. Officers Coyle and McKay then stopped the man who was later identified as Queshan Brooks, the shooter.
Precinct Investigator of the Year: Detective William Ashworth
Detective Ashworth led an intense and lengthy investigation into the murders of Bartley Teal and Jaime Sarrantonio that occurred outside the Cobra Nashville bar on Gallatin Avenue on August 17th .
He coordinated efforts with several MNPD investigative components and conducted numerous interviews with victims, witnesses and ultimately three suspects. Two of them, Horace Williamson and Demontrey Logsdon are charged on a number of criminal counts, including first-degree murder.
Investigative Services Bureau Investigator of the Year: Detective John Grubbs
Detective Grubbs spearheaded an investigation that led to the murder arrest of Shirley Mae Slope, whose 12-year-old daughter was airlifted from Henderson County to Vanderbilt on February 11th, 2016 and died four days later.
The girl’s mother was held accountable for her death after the investigation showed that the 12-year-old was neglected and sick as she traveled with her mother from Louisiana to Ohio. Her mother was indicted in 2017 and pleaded guilty to aggravated child neglect in September 2018. The court sentenced Shirley Mae Slope to 15 years.
Support Services Bureau of the Year: School Resource Office Angela Booker
Officer Booker founded Team 1, a special week-long summer camp for special needs girls. The “TEAM” stands for Togetherness, Empathy, Acceptance and Motivation. Officer Booker used her vacation time to conduct the free summer camp, which she funded with her own money and donations from the community.
Professional Support Employee of the Year: Christy Sawyers from Human Resources
While Christy was physically away from the office due to her husband’s critical illness, she continued to work 10 and 12 hour days, sometimes from a laptop in her husband’s hospital room. There were many nights when Christy would come to the office and work until 2 or 3 in the morning to ensure that all employees were paid correctly and that their overtime compensation was accurate.
