Reviving individuals experiencing drug overdoses is becoming a more common part of police officers' duties. The Porter County Substance Abuse Council presents the Phoenix Award to officers who save lives using the overdose reversal drug Narcan. This year, it gave out 65 of them.
The council says the use of Narcan has quickly morphed from a novel strategy to a common and accepted best practice, noting the recent emergence of Narcan "vending machines" throughout Indiana. This comes as overdose deaths have seen an increase due to fentanyl, and multiple doses of Narcan are often needed to revive victims.
Porter County reported 36 overdose deaths in 2021.
2021 Phoenix Award recipients:
Chesterton Police Department: Alexies DeJesus
Burns Harbor Police Department: Cpl. Austin Haynes, Sgt. Timothy Lucus, Asst. Chief Jermey McHargue
Hebron Police Department: Asst. Chief Scott Sejda
Valparaiso Police Department: Lt. Jerame Simpson, Ofc. John Patston, Ofc. John Nuppnau; Michelle Kodicek, Mark Lamotte, Jeff Kopil; Jacob Myers, Jon Watson, Ryan Sobierajski, Chris Allison, Caleb Hall, Jason Wray, Carol Pytynia, Ben Teufel, John Patston
Portage Police Department: Ofc. Robert Demitroulas, Ofc. Katie Crook, Lt. Troy Williams, Lt. Joseph Mokol, Ofc. Lou Stanko, Ofc. Cortney Overton, Ofc. Mark Speckhard, Ofc. Andrew Smith, Ofc. Creighton Price, Lt. Janis Crafton, Ofc. Brian Graves, Ofc. Jake Wirick, Ofc. Laura Lightfoot, Ofc. Anthony Ortiz, Ofc. Flora McHenry, Cpl. Robert Nichols, Ofc. Daniel Martinez, Ofc. Benjamin Tobey, Ofc. Steven McGraw, Ofc. David Hudson, Ofc. Alex Leighty, Ofc. Anthony Bohling, Ofc. Jesus Campos, Ofc. Demario Hathorne, Ofc. Gabriel Acevedo, Ofc. Christopher Leer, Ofc. Brandon Gardenhire
Porter Police Department: Tawni Komisarcik, Jason Holaway
Porter County Sheriff’s Department: Cpl. Bob Gosbin, Cpl. Tim Bell, Cpl. Nathan Graf, Det. Bill Marshall, Ofc. Bill Knapp; Ofc. Doug Schafer, Ofc. Chris Winterhaler, Ofc. Jamison Smith, Ofc. Chris Vanderpool, Ofc. Tyler Ball, Ofc. Tyler McKinney, Ofc. Matthew Reynolds, Ofc. Andrew Brunton and Ofc. Aaron Estrada.
