Crime & Safety

Officer Harris Awarded for Tornado Relief Efforts

Buffalo Grove Police Officer Jim Harris received the department's first quarter 2012 Above and Beyond the Call of Duty award.

A Buffalo Grove police officer was honored Sept. 10 for leading a relief effort to benefit tornado victims in Kentucky earlier this year.

Officer Jim Harris was given a plaque after Village Manager Dane Bragg spoke of his efforts to provide assistance to residents of West Liberty, Ky., following the March 2 tornado. (See video at right.)

Harris was nominated to receive the Buffalo Grove Police Department’s Above and Beyond the Call of Duty award by Deputy Chief Steve Husak, Cmdr. Tom Reed and Officer Danielle Baron.

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“After seeing the newspaper coverage of the damage, Jim began to think about what he could do to help the people in the area,” said Bragg, reading from the nomination letter from Harris’ colleagues. “He decided that he would travel south with needed supplies, as requested in various newspaper articles he read.”

Harris turned to fellow village employees for help, and donations were provided by staff, The Connie Sizer Foundation, Critter Stuff Pet Supplies, and two local Brownie troops.

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“His truck was packed so tight, he almost didn’t have room for a change of clothes,” Bragg read from the nomination letter. “Jim told us it made him proud to work in such a fine village.”

Harris quietly accepted the award before receiving congratulatory handshakes from members of the Village Board.


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