Safety

Public Servant Awards

2026-2027 PUBLIC SERVANT AWARD CITATIONS FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS, LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL, FIREFIGHTERS, DISPATCHERS AND EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL TECHNICIANS (EODT)

Curtis-Sessions, Swartz-White Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 6464 is seeking candidates as our Post submission for the 2026-2027 Public Servant Award for our area. As such, I am forwarding this letter to the First Responders in our area seeking candidates to submit for the Emergency Medical Technicians, Law Enforcement, Firefighter, Dispatcher & Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician EODT of the year.

Click the link below for the Public Servant Award Criteria. It identifies qualification & criteria for these awards and documentation required for submission to higher headquarters through the individual VFW Post.

Click the link below for the Specific the Public Servant Citation Post Entry Forms

Ensure the Nomination letter contains the employer’s information to include Address, City, State, Zip, Employers Phone # and employers’ email address. Nominee’s Contact Information, Address, City, State, Zip, Telephone # and email address and identifying the award for which the individual should be considered. This is so the Department of Michigan Safety Director can make contact with nominee should they be selected as the State Winner.

Head and Shoulders Picture of Nominee

Any supporting documents to support your candidate’s package e.g. Newspaper article, letters of recommendation, award and other citations.

Due date to VFW Post 6464 is November 1, 2026. The Annual Post Awards Banquet to distribute local awards is December 12, 2026.

2026-2027 Safety Program Public Servant Instruction Form

2026-2027 Safety Program Servant Law Enforcement Entry Form

2026-2027 Safety Program Servant Fire Fighter Entry Form

2026-2027 Safety Program Servant EMT Entry Form

2026-2027 Safety Program Servant Dispatcher Entry Form

2026-2027 Safety Program Servant EODT Entry Form

Emergency Dispatcher of the Year

VFW Post 6464

2025-2026

911 Livingston County Central Dispatch

Mary Reed

Mary Reed nomination letter by Kecia S. Williams

Mary Reed has been employed with Livingston County 911 Central Dispatch for the last 25 years, making her our most senior employee. She began as a dispatcher and worked her way up to becoming the department’s training coordinator. Since the beginning of her employment, she has had a passion for the work of a public safety servant. She has served as a volunteer firefighter, a hazmat team member and an EMT Specialist. Mary Reed has an unwavering selfless dedication to Livingston County public safety. She has

worked tirelessly through the years serving the communities of Livingston County. She answers all emergency and non-emergency calls with a sense of purpose, always ready and willing to help those who call 911 for assistance. She has lived through so many worse days with many citizens of this county. A worse day call Mary took was in September 2007:

911 caller advised an elderly male had been mauled by a pack of dogs.

While obtaining pertinent information from the caller, screams could be

heard in the distance and that was of another person who had come across the body of a woman who had also been mauled by the same dogs. Mary quickly entered the call for police, fire and EMS to respond. All the while doing all that she could to keep the caller calm so that he could help with calming the other person so that she could continue to learn information to be passed along to the responders. This situation was difficult, but it was not over. A short time later, a male called into the 911 Center looking for his wife. Mary’s heart went out to him because she knew the deceased woman was this man’s wife. Although she could not confirm, he said to her "25 years and this is how it ends”. This was this citizen’s worse day, and Mary lived it with him.

Mary Reed has trained numerous new dispatchers. Even in the position as training coordinator, she still continues to train. She trains new employees on all job tasks associated with initiating emergency response, providing life-saving instructions, responding to and dispatching public safety personnel, as well as responding to general requests for assistance and information. Training Coordinator Reed takes training very seriously and has been known to willingly train for weeks on end, putting energy and patience into training new people to serve the citizens of Livingston County. Training Coordinator Reed has come in early and/or stayed late and worked weekends training new staff, sometimes working hours that were more conducive for those she trained than herself. She has given up time off to benefit the needs of public safety. Training Coordinator Reed was recently mandated to take a week’s vacation because she had voluntarily not done so in two (2) years.

Over the years, Mary has received multiple accolades and recognitions for the work she has done. In the past 3 years, she received an award for being trainer of the year and for her dedication to the 911 profession. Mary is also the leader of our Community Engagement Team, whereby 911 goes to community and first responder events to teach children and adults alike about 911 and the services we offer. As a member of our Peer Support Team (PST)/Critical Incident Management (CISM) Team, Mary and other members of the Peer Support Team deployed to Ingham County 911 Dispatch Center within 12 hours of the MSU mass shooting and again on the first anniversary of this senseless act. Each time, she and her team were on hand to support the dispatchers as they navigated through this tragedy. When Genesee County 911 Dispatch Center requested our Peer Support Team due to the death of one of their team members, Mary put aside her life and visited with them and their deputy director who needed a shoulder to lean on. Although small in stature, Mary is giant in her capacity to care and help those in need with a heart that never hardens.

As 911 dispatchers, we live by a code of ethics, which states:

As a Public Safety Telecommunicator, I am dedicated to serve the public; to safeguard life and property. My conduct and my performance of my duties will be accomplished in an honest manner, contributory to my fellow workers and observant of the laws of the city, state and country.

I recognize the high responsibility of my position as a symbol of public faith and trust and will accept it to be held as long as I am faithful to the ethics of public safety service. I will constantly strive to achieve those objectives and ideals, which govern my profession, dedicating myself, before God, to my chosen profession, public safety telecommunications.

Mary Reed lives by this code daily. This can be seen in how she never lets those that call 911 for help voices go unheard even under great provocation. While almost all 911 calls are made to report a crime, fire, illness, or injury, 911 dispatchers are subject to uncomfortable calls. People in distress are often panicked and can become verbally abusive. Training Coordinator Reed has been met with angry and hostile voices who have called her offensive names and made threats, all while she is trying to help them. However, she remains calm, level-headed and in control understanding the person on the other end of the phone is running through a gamut of emotions that do not have anything to do with her but is more about the circumstances they are currently in.

Training Coordinator Reed is tasked with being innovative and creative every day she comes to work. There is no playbook on how to handle every situation that comes to 911. It takes a creative mind to help someone who is being threatened with physical harm or directing a family on what to do as the fire in their house spreads or keeping a parent calm enough to walk them through CPR instructions for their child who is not breathing until help arrives on scene and can take over. The work of a 911 dispatcher is not physically demanding, but it can be emotionally and mentally taxing. Some days are worse than others. However, Mary Reed has found her calling because she handles each day with a sense of pride, humility and respect for the public safety profession and has done so for the last 25 years.

VFW Post 6464 Dispatchers of the Year Winners

2025-2026 Mary Read 911 Livingston County Central Dispatch Livingston, Michigan *

Department of Michigan Winner *

EMT/Paramedic of the Year

VFW Post 6464

No Applicant

2025-2026

VFW Post 6464 Emergency Medical Service Winner

2024-2025 Robert Cindric Livingston County Emergency Medical Service Howell, Michigan *

2023-2024 Saralynn Bush Livingston County Emergency Medical Service Howell, Michigan *

2022-2023 Richard Landis Livingston County Emergency Medical Service Howell, Michigan

Department of Michigan Winner *

Fire Fighter of the Year

VFW Post 6464

2025-2026

Fowlerville Area Fire Department

Joshua Pointek

Joshua Pointek nomination letter by Sergeant Nathan Meloche:

Thank you for your interest in the nomination of one of Fowlerville's firefighters for this esteemed award. The Fowlerville Area Fire Department takes pride in holding a relationship with the outstanding men and women of your post, and we deeply appreciate the sacrifices you have all made.

The decision of this award is taken with great seriousness every year, however I would note the decision of our firefighter of the year for 2025 was a unanimous decision by the command staff of the department. The Fowlerville Area Fire Department is proudto nominate Firefighter Joshua Piontek for this award.

Firefighter Piontek is a three-year veteran of the department, serving out of Station 42 primarily and assisting Station 41 when called upon. I want to express Firefighter Piontek's overwhelming dedication by sharing that at the time of this letter he has responded to 478 calls for service in 2025 alone. Beyond the emergency response, Firefighter Piontek often volunteers for public outreach and education, training with his fellow firefighters, and even apparatus maintenance and inspection. The Fowlerville Area Fire Department is proud to have him both as a Firefighter and a member of the Fowlerville community.

VFW Post 6464 High Firefighter of the Year Winners

2025-2026 Joshua Pointek Fowlerville Area Fire Department Fowlerville, Michigan

2022-2023 Julia Daily Fowlerville Area Fire Department Fowlerville, Michigan

Department of Michigan Winner *

Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

VFW Post 6464

Howell Police Department

2024-2025

Megan Jordan

On behalf of the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, I would like to nominate Detective Megan Jordan for the Law Enforcement Public Servant Award

Megan Jordan has been employed with the Ingham County Sheriff's Office for 11 years and has served as a Detective for the past 2 years. Megan exemplifies exactly what it takes to be a successful Detective. In 2025 alone, she has investigated over 175 cases, far above any other Detective.

Prior to becoming a Detective, Megan served as a School Resource Officer. In this role, she built strong relationships with staff, students, parents, and the community, while ensuring the safety of students and staff during the school day and at school functions. Megan excelled in this position, establishing a solid foundation for the positive working relationship between the school community and the Ingham County Sheriff's Office that continues today.

In September of 2023, Detective Jordan investigated a sexual assault case involving three now adults. The sexual abuse occurred from the victim's father, Jon Salmon, when she was five. Years old and lasted until she was about 12 years old. The victim and at least two of her friends were also sexually assaulted by Jon every time they went to spend the night at the first victim's home. The three victims reported the sexual abuse to their teachers and law enforcement in the early 2000's, but unfortunately no one believed them and there was no cooperative evidence resulting in no charges being authorized. Detective Jordan was able to interview the victims and other witnesses who confirmed what the victims were saying was true. In August 2025, Jon Salmon took a plea deal for 17 years in MDOC at the age of 61 years old.

In December 2023, Detective Jordan began investigating a case involving possible vulnerable adult fraud. The victim, a 71-year-old Navy veteran, required 24-hour care following a severe car crash in the early 2000s. In 2019, Lyndsey Allen was appointed as the victim’s caregiver: and granted power of attorney.

Over the next four years, Allen failed to pay the victim's mortgage, ultimately leading to the foreclosure of his property near Stockbridge. During the investigation, Detective Jordan reviewed several years of bank statements belonging to both the victim and Allen. The detective identified multiple instances in which Allen used the victim's funds for personal expenses, including vacations, Amazon purchases, retail shopping, Botox injections, and other non-authorized expenditures.

The victim's total estimated financial loss was just under $400,000. In November 2025, Allen pleaded guilty to all charges.

So far 2025, Detective Jordan investigated more than 175 cases in coordination with Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services.

Detective Megan Jordan should be seriously considered for the Public Servant Award because of her unwavering dedication to serving others. She consistently goes above and beyond, investing countless hours, including many on her own time, to investigate crimes against children. Her commitment to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our community demonstrates exceptional professionalism, compassion, and service.