The Kettering Police Department takes grreat pride in the service of its officers. Below are examples of honors awarded to these officers for outstanding service

On September 24, 2005 at approximately 7:45 am Officer Jeff Perkins arrived at the scene of a disturbance in the 4700 block of Foxdale Dr. Dispatchers told Perkins a naked man wielding a metal pipe had broken out several windows on neighbors’ houses, and he had broken into a senior woman’s home and threatened her life. She ran out the front door and was picked up by a woman who had reported the events to police dispatch.

When Perkins arrived, the suspect threatened to kill Officer Perkins and quickly began approaching him with the metal pipe. Although Officer Perkins could have used his firearm to stop the deadly threat, he drew his X-26 Taser and deployed it causing the man to fall to the ground and drop the pipe. Perkins controlled the suspect until back-up officers arrived.

For his actions, Officer Perkins was awarded the meritorious service award on January 12, 2005 at 3:00 p.m. by Chief James O’Dell.

On Monday, January 31, 2005, at about 8:20 p.m., Officer Mark Steffano was the first officer to arrive at a house fire at 921 Larriwood Ave. Officer Steffano was joined by a command officer of the fire department and decided to search for victims reportedly in the house. Both found a man inside the front door and brought him to safety. When he advised that his wife was still in the home Officer Steffano decided to re-enter to find her.

Disregarding the personal risk, Officer Steffano entered the smoke-filled house, crawling under the smoke with no protective equipment, and managed to find the second victim who was conscious. Due to the extreme conditions, Officer Steffano was unable to remove her but was able to point out her location to arriving firefighters who were able to make a quick rescue.

Officer Steffano's selfless actions and heroism exemplified the traditions of “Ohio’s Finest” and he was awarded our highest honor, The Medal of Valor”.

On January 23, 2005, at around 11:30 p.m., Officer Deborah Warner noticed something unusual about a vehicle parked at Georgetown Apartments. Officer Warner noticed a person was inside the vehicle and not responding to her presence. Assessing this, along with the frigid temperatures, Officer Warner called for a medic and managed to get the door open upon their arrival. The female inside was in distress due to the cold, and Officer Warner stayed with her for comfort and to assist the medics until she was at the hospital.

This conduct, possibly saving the female from death or serious injury, exemplifies highly professional and selfless conduct and Officer Warner was awarded a Class II commendation.

On June 30, 2005, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Officer Mark Armstrong was sent to the area of Balmoral and Stonehaven to locate a distressed female. This female advised Officer Armstrong of a possible medical problem involving her boyfriend at 272 Balmoral. Officer Armstrong went there and found smoke coming from inside the house. Concerned for the safety of the occupant, heard yelling, Officer Armstrong entered.

Finding the male in the room with the fire, Officer Armstrong then had to deal with the fact that he was under the influence of some type of drug and was trying to start more fires with a cigarette lighter. Although he struggled with Officer Armstrong's attempts to both stop and remove him, Officer Armstrong removed the male; and, with the assistance of Ptl. Walker, was able to re-enter the house and extinguish the fire.

Officer Armstrong's efforts showed selfless and professional conduct during a time of emergency and crisis. For this reason he aws awarded this commendation.