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News
Oswego cop honored as 'Officer of the Year' : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOswego cop honored as 'Officer of the Year'
| Hackl selected for his work in drug seizure, shots fired incidents
| by Tony Scott
| 3/14/2013
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An officer with the Oswego Police Department received the Officer of the Year Award at the 28th Annual Respect for Law banquet Saturday evening.
Officer Ben Hackl received the high honor, along with the Valor Award, while his colleagues, Officer Brandon Dilg, Officer Kelly Garcia, CSO David Lach and Sgt. Jason Bastin received the organization's Life Saving Award.
The awards banquet is hosted annually by the Kendall County Association of Chiefs of Police and the Oswegoland Optimist Club, and was held this year at St. Patrick's Parish Center in Yorkville.
Hackl, a seven-year veteran of the department, received the Officer of the Year honors for seizing 26 pounds of marijuana on a traffic stop, and, during a separate incident, locating offenders and recovering a loaded handgun after responding to a shots fired call.
The marijuana seizure is believed to be the largest such bust in Oswego history, according to Chief Dwight Baird.
In the second call, Baird said Hackl stopped a vehicle and subsequently recovered a loaded gun from the vehicle, which resulted in felony charges.
"It was a good job on his part," Baird said.
Hackl also received the Valor Award for assisting a Montgomery Police sergeant who had been hit by a vehicle during a chaotic scene that involved a shooting, Baird said.
"(Hackl) provided first aid to the sergeant and protected him until other people could get there," Baird said. "It was a pretty chaotic scene. A gun was recovered there. That sergeant is still not back to work."
The four officers who received the Life Saving Award did so for saving the life of a man who was in full cardiac arrest, according to Baird. The officers removed the man from the vehicle on Route 34, performed CPR and applied an AED (automated external defibrillator) to save Richard Beagan's life.
Beagan attended Saturday's banquet with his wife to thank the officers who saved him.
Baird said the recognition is "always a good boost" to the officers, he said.
"They are very dedicated," he said. "They're out there, day in and day out. This is a reflection of our department. What these officers are nominated for - not just the Oswego officers, but the other officers as well - is, we respond to those calls where there are shots fired, where officers get hurt. While our main focus is always to prevent crime from happening in the first place, we are ready to go when a dangerous call comes in."
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