Belleville police officer receives Law Enforcement Officer of Year award - KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — A Belleville police officer was honored with a national award Friday evening as the National Grange’s 2021 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.
“I’m just honored, surprised,” Belleville Police Officer Dan Cook said. “It’s a great feeling to know we do have backers, despite the climate nowadays and it’s nice when people thank us for our service, stand behind us for what we do.”
Cook won Belleville’s Turkey Hill Grange Award and then received the Illinois State Grange Law Enforcement Award, before receiving the National Grange Award.
The Grange was founded in 1867 as a national organization, focused on local efforts.
“The Grange is a family, community organization with its roots in agriculture,” according to the organization’s website. “Our members are given the opportunity to learn and grow to their full potential as citizens and leaders.”
The honor was awarded after Officer Cook’s heroic action during an arrest on February 14, 2021.
“We had a robbery, suspects fled, I located the vehicle, it was a pursuit, at the end of the pursuit we captured them,” Cook said. “It wasn’t a normal day but it was pretty much what we do.”
Cook said the three robbers were taken into custody, which was wanted by 14 agencies for about 60 criminal offenses in two states.
He said he was part of a team just doing their job and never thought for a second it would have ended with this honor.
“We had a job to do it and we all did it that day and it worked out well for us,” Cook said.
He was chosen out of 17 officers in Illinois as the state’s law enforcement officer of the year. After that, he was chosen out of 37 states’ top officers nationwide to receive Friday night’s award.
“The country has recognized what he has done as a law enforcement officer in his career to this point. It’s not just Belleville. It’s not just Illinois. It’s the country,” said Lynette Schaeffer, the chairman of the executive board of the National Grange and the president of the Illinois Grange.
“When you have a great patrolman like Dan Cook you’re proud to show him off,” Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory said.
source: https://fox2now.com/news/belleville-police-officer-receives-law-enforcement-officer-of-year-award/
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