Dozens of police officers filled the city council chambers in West Hartford on Friday morning to honor some of their own, as well as residents, who they said have gone above and beyond to help others.
“From officers who solve home invasions, to removing weapons from vehicles, to guns that are unregistered, there are so many stories of good police work,” Chief Tracey Gove said.
Each act was recognized with a citation and a handshake.
Susan Callison, who received the West Hartford Police Department Recognition Award, helped save a life when she was playing baseball with her son at Kingswood Oxford School on June 10 last year.
Police said an 18-year-old jogger was running laps around the field when he collapsed and Susan Callison and Scott McDonald immediately began to do CPR and continued to assist when the police officer arrived at the scene.
“I called over to a group because I saw a boy collapse,” Callison said. “I immediately started pushing on his chest. Later on, the police called me to tell me the boy had had a heart attack, but he was going to be OK.”
If it was not for Callison’s quick thinking that day, the boy might not have survived, police said.
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She was among a handful of residents honored at Friday’s ceremony with rounds of applause.
West Hartford police said what is really worth celebrating is the help and support they get from their community on a daily basis.
“Here in West Hartford we have had a lot of success and we owe a lot of that success to our citizens,” Gove said.
