HILLSBOROUGH: Peers tap Kearney, Wilson as top cops

By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
   By receiving awards to honor work done in the previous year, two officers can feel especially proud because they were recognized by their own colleagues.
   Officer Kevin Kearney, of the department’s Patrol Division A Squad, and Officer Dave Wilson, of B Squad, were chosen by their peers and superiors as the recipients of the 2008 Top Cop awards.
   ”This is one of the only awards that comes from my supervisors and the people I work with,” said Officer Kearney, who has been with the department for 10 years. “It feels good that my peers voted for me.”
   Officer Wilson, who has been receiving treatment for leukemia, was not available for comment.
   The award is given to officers based on performance, dedication to duty and evaluations from supervisors, administrators and others officers. Officer Kearney said they take into account an officer’s statistics and service throughout the past year.
   ”They look to the person they respect the most,” he said. “Whoever gets the most votes (in each squad) receives the award.”
   According to Hillsborough Police Chief Paul Kaminsky, the Top Cop program began in 1996 to recognize officers in each of the patrol division’s two squads.
   ”We wanted to develop a program that would recognize the overall performance of an officer on each patrol squad,” he said. “Officers participating in the voting of this award look at the officers’ overall production, conduct, job knowledge, experience and dedicated service.”
   Votes are cast, Chief Kaminsky said, by the patrol division commander, each squad patrol sergeant, each squad patrol corporal and the individual officers in each squad.
   ”I personally think it means a lot to the officers selected because it formally recognizes the officers’ individual efforts and actions made throughout the year,” he said. “The officers are selected by not only their individual supervisors, but also by their peers, which I think is a great honor.”
   For Officer Kearney, who was accidentally leaked the news about his win before it was officially announced, being chosen for the award was a shock.
   ”I didn’t expect it,” he said. “It wasn’t leaked to me so I didn’t get any advance warning.”
   Recipients of the award receive an award bar that can be placed above their uniform badges as well as a gift certificate for dinner for two at a local restaurant. In addition, their names are engraved on a Top Cop plaque in the Police Department lobby.
   Officer Kearney said he is proud to be a member of the Hillsborough department, which he joined because he knew many of the people already working there.
   ”I think it’s a good place to work with better than average people,” he said. “I can’t see going anywhere else.”