Troopers from Troop D Receive Service Awards

State Police Troopers from Troop D in Danielson received awards for service during a ceremony on Wednesday, November 29, at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy in Meriden.

Twice a year, the Connecticut State Police honors Troopers who demonstrated exceptional service in the line of duty.  The ceremony also honors men and women serving in local and federal law enforcement agencies and those serving as first responders, as well as civilians.  Award winners received medals and certificates from Department of Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle and State Police Colonel Edward Lynch.

Awards are presented in four categories:

*      The Meritorious Service Medal is awarded to any person who renders service with a high degree of alertness, perseverance and superior judgment in the performance of a difficult task resulting in the protection of life, recovery of property, the prevention of – or solving of – a major crime or the apprehension of an armed or dangerous person.

*     The Lifesaving Award is presented to any person who saves a human life or makes a valiant attempt to save a life.

*      The Outstanding Service Award is given to any person who successfully performs an extreme, complex or difficult investigation. The person also may demonstrate exceptional skill or ingenuity in the apprehension of a wanted person, provide outstanding service to the public and or continuously achieves excellence in performance of duties over an extended period of time.

*      The Unit Citation is awarded to members of a department, a command or group who combine their resources to achieve success in an investigation or event. The citation recognizes exceptional collective efforts.

Troop D barracks of the Connecticut State Police, located in Danielson, is proud have several individual award winners from the troop.   

Dispatcher Jay Robillard Dispatcher Robillard has served with distinction at Troop D in Danielson for 19 years. He is a loyal, consummate professional, adept at handling routine calls as well as more complex calls.  Dispatcher Robillard is well respected, proficient and effective when answering calls for robberies, assaults, motor vehicle accidents or other events.  He is known for his compassion towards victims of crime and exhibits patience in the most strained situations. For his work, he was named Connecticut State Police Dispatcher of the Year for 2006.

Sergeant John Hardell, Trooper First Class James Fillmore and Trooper Mark Juhola On July 5, 2006, Troopers responded to a restaurant in Pomfret for a report of an assault victim in need of medical attention.  The Troopers determined that the victim had been assaulted and sustained life-threatening head injuries. Troopers identified a suspect and determined that he might be en route to Plainfield, operating a pickup truck. Sergeant John Hardell, Trooper First Class James Fillmore and Trooper Mark Juhola traveled to Moosup and spotted the suspect vehicle. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but the operator engaged them in a high speed pursuit through several back roads of Moosup.  The Troopers pursued the suspect vehicle for three miles before the vehicle stopped and the operator attempted to flee on foot.  The Troopers arrested him without incident.  In the bed of the suspect’s pickup truck they located the weapon used to assault the victim. The Troopers received a awards for Meritorious Service.

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