Ryan Shelby named police department “Employee of the Year”

by Kathleen Steele Gaivin
Jan. 9 township trustees meeting
Supervisors of the Sagamore Hills Police Department annually select one department member as “Employee of the Year.” Police Chief David Hayes presented the 2022 award before the township trustees to Officer Ryan Shelby. This was Shelby’s third time as the recipient; he received the award three times in the award’s 16-year history.

“Ryan, in 2022, made commitments to the department that made our decision easy,” Hayes said. “In 2022, he trained four officers. … It takes patience and knowledge on his part. In addition, he was one of the officers instrumental in the beginning of the first Sagamore Hills PD Traffic Safety Unit.”

Additionally, Hayes said, Shelby was selected because “he is always respectful of citizens, other officers and supervisors. Ryan is well-liked by all officers.”

His comment was supported by an example of Shelby donating 40 hours of his own sick time last year to an officer that was off work due to an injury.

Hayes took the opportunity to “thank each and every officer for their dedication to the township and the residents.” He also thanked the Sagamore Hills trustees for their support of the police department.

Police and fire reports

In December 2022, the Sagamore Hills fire station handled 105 EMS calls and 25 fire calls, Trustee David DePasquale said. Sagamore Hills received mutual aid four times and provided it 21 times. For the year, the township handled 1,201 EMS calls and 174 fire calls; received mutual aid 93 times and provided it 122 times.

DePasquale said the police department handed 545 calls for service in December, conducted 1,085 community policing calls and handed out 95 patrolled-your-area cards. The investigative section received 26 investigations, of which it closed all but one. The department’s therapy dog, Annie, made six community contacts. ∞