Officers honored for actions & detective promoted
This past Monday, several officers were recognized for their acts and another officer was promoted to sergeant.
Life Saving Medal – Sergeant Harris, Sergeant Balcom and Officer Hodgson received the Life Saving Medal for their actions on October 5th. Sergeant Harris, Sergeant Balcom and Officer Hodgson performed lifesaving efforts on three subjects who had been wounded by gunfire during a shooting incident. The officers actions in applying tourniquets and chest seals directly led to limiting the bleeding of the victims so that they could be stabilized for transport. All three victims survive their injuries as a result.
Meritorious Service Medal – On October 5th, Officer Thomas was alone and patrolling in his patrol vehicle when he witnessed the above shooting incident. He was immediately able to identify the suspect and suspect vehicle and engaged the suspect in a brief vehicle pursuit. During the pursuit, Officer Thomas was able to relay pertinent information about the incident to backing officers that were responding and ultimately took the suspect into custody without incident.
Medal of Valor – On February 13th, Officer Hinson who is a member of the regional Valley SWAT team responded to a domestic violence situation in which a victim had been strangled and a 20-month old toddler was being held hostage. The suspect had already fired several shots at officers who were establishing a perimeter. As the incident unfolded, Officer Hinson intentionally put himself in a position of great danger in the line of fire so that other officers and SWAT members could rescue the toddler who had exited the residence.
Promotion to Sergeant – Officer Vivet was promoted to Sergeant and officially sworn-in at Monday’s City Council meeting. Officer Vivet has served the Tukwila community in multiple capacities including patrol officer, Field Training Officer (FTO) and Major Crimes Unit (MCU) detective. During his time in MCU, Sergeant Vivet was instrumental in working and solving numerous high profile cases and going above and beyond to ensure that each case he was assigned received his utmost attention.