Bloomington Police Department Officer Conner Dunn was awarded the 2018 Officer of the Year for displaying overall excellence during his time at the Bloomington Police Department.
He was given the BPD Officer of the Year award at the department's annual awards ceremony March 3. Dunn also won the Officer of the Year award last week from Bloomington Northside Exchange Club, which is a local service organization. He was nominated for this award by Bloomington Police Chief Mike Diekhoff.
“Getting this award was an extreme honor and very humbling knowing the quality of people that I work around,” Dunn said. “It took a lot of work.”
Dunn is a field training officer and a member of BPD’s critical incident response team. This May will be his third year at BPD.
He received a plaque from the Exchange Club, and BPD gave him ribbons to display on his uniform above his name tag to signify his accomplishment.
Dunn was selected in 2018 for the CIRT, which is a group of officers trained in special weapons and tactics. This group responds to situations with a higher amount of danger, according the City of Bloomington website.
Multiple cases led him to be nominated, including a situation in late 2018 where he was the first responding officer to an armed man threatening to harm officers, according to a BPD press release.
“Officer Dunn did an excellent job maintaining his composure under very stressful circumstances and ensured that he and other officers utilized sound tactics in their response and search for the armed man,” according to the release.
Another case which gained him recognition was an instance of severe neglect of two children. His involvement helped ensure their placement in a safe environment.
Dunn said being on the CIRT allowed him to become more involved in extreme situations around the city, which attracted attention from the shift commanders who nominated him for the awards.
He said his nomination was a result of a combination of important events coming together for him in 2018, such as the divisions he was able to join and the cases he was called on to.
The committee for this award is comprised of six members in varying divisions of the department who serve a one-year term, BPD Capt. Ryan Pedigo said in an email. This committee consists of one chairman, two officers from the patrol division, one person from the detective division, one supervisor and one civilian.
“As far as the selection process, any officer, supervisor or civilian having knowledge of an incident involving police action or an act of public service may recommend a member of the Department or a civilian for an award,” Pedigo said.
The group receives recommendations for the awards, evaluates candidates and votes.
“Knowing that I’m able to get an award knowing that everyone I work around is so well qualified, it was great,” Dunn said.
