Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Michael Shade, right, presents the township's Officer of the Year trophy to Ofc. Matt Meitzler.
SANATOGA PA – Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Police Ofc. Matt Meitzler, hired by the department only two years ago, was selected by his peers as the force’s 2009 Officer of the Year, Police Chief Michael Shade announced Monday night (Oct. 5, 2009) during the township Board of Commissioners’ meeting.
Meitzler was among several candidates the 17-member police department considered worthy of its honor, but ultimately was chosen for the significant impact he has made in leading the department’s Drug Task Force, Shade said.
Meitzler had 10 years of narcotics law enforcement experience in Berks County before joining the Lower Pottsgrove department in 2007. Since then, according to the chief, the number of cases opened and worked by Meitzler and other task force officers has risen dramatically. Better still, Shade added, a majority of cases have been cleared with arrests.
“He’s a role model to our younger officers,” Shade said of Meitzler.
This is the fourth consecutive year in which the township has given public acclaim to an outstanding member of its force. The 2007 winner, former officer Kathy Foltz – now a nurse – was in the audience at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, as Meitzler was introduced. Her husband and Meitzler’s supervisor, department Lt. Michael Foltz, took photographs during the presentation.
The bronze-colored Officer of the Year statuette depicts a standing policeman on duty in uniform and cap, with his right hand on his gun holster and his left hand holding a portable radio to his ear. Its base bears the image of an American eagle.
Also Monday, Shade presented a Life Saving Award to department Sgt. Tim Walters, who risked his own safety to rescue a woman trapped in a car after an accident.
Sgt. Tim Walters receives a Life Saving Award from Shade.
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Oct. 5 meeting):
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