The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Officer honored for roles in department, community
Desapri started Santa’s Blue Helpers outreach to area children
Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Officer Tina Desapri first showed her commitment to the community by moving there in 2015, after being hired part time by the department.
She recently was recognized for her many contributions since then. On April 10, she was awarded the 2017 Officer of the Year Award, presented by Chief John Gielink at the City Council meeting in front of her friends and family.
“Tina has always had evaluations from her supervisors that meet or exceed expectations,” Gielink said. “However, in the past year, (Patrolwoman) Desapri has really excelled. In 2017, Officer Desapri led the department in OVI arrests. Additionally, she was second in the department in overall arrests and led the department in traffic citations.
“Not only has she been an extremely proactive police officer, she serves her community well.”
In 2017, Desapri participated in the following community events:
• Bingo night at Lake Elementary
• Lake Elementary Safety Day
• Boo Bash at Lake Elementary • Food Drive at Marc’s • Santa’s Blue Helpers “Officer Desapri started this program in 2015 with about nine families,” Gielink said. “With the help of other members of the department, we took almost 35 children this past year, giving each one of them a $100 gift card, a pizza party, a Jungle Terry visit and a visit from Santa. Tina is the facilitator of this event and puts it all together every year. … For all of these reasons, (she) is very deserving of the 2017 Officer of the Year.”
The department is comprised of eight full-time officers and 12 part-time ones.
The award has been given out since 1995, when Gerilyn Deutsch won it. However, there was no award last year.
“I didn’t think that anyone actually went over and above to deserve it,” Gielink said. “I didn’t want to give it out, just to give it out.”
Desapri said she was surprised and grateful for the chief’s nomination. She said the job has opened many opportunities for her to benefit the community.
“I am lucky to work with such a great group of officers, leaders and administrators that support my enthusiasm,” she said. “I’m looking forward to many more years to develop new programs that will help our community.”
She enjoys being a positive role model as well.
“I love doing work with kids,” she said. “Also, we as officers deal with a lot of people on their worst days. We can make the difference for that person. I am motivated to always go above and beyond to do whatever I can to help a person or make the situation at hand better.”