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LAWRENCE: Council names Gladney year’s top police officer

The final award at the end of Township Council’s meeting Tuesday, Officer Gladney was named the Outstanding Officer of the Year.

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Tuesday was quite a night for police Officer Daniel Gladney.
   Officer Gladney, who is a five-year veteran of the Lawrence Township Police Department, was given the Police Department’s Commendable Service Award and the Meritorious Service Award.
   But the icing on the cake was the final award at the end of Township Council’s meeting Tuesday, when Officer Gladney was named the Outstanding Officer of the Year.
   Chief of Police Daniel Posluszny told the overflow audience in the Council Meeting Room that every year, the Police Department identifies the Outstanding Officer of the Year and that officer is feted at a dinner sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Council 7000.
   A committee within the Police Department reviews nominations for the award and makes its recommendation. Together, the committee and the police chief choose the police officer who they think should be awarded the Chief’s Achievement Award for the Outstanding Officer of the Year.
   The officer is chosen not based on one single event, but on the basis of everything that officer has done, Chief Posluszny said. It’s also showing up for work every day and doing what’s right, he said.
   ”Officer Gladney comes to work every day and he never seeks attention. He just does his job,” Chief Posluszny said.
   Township Council’s resolution honoring Officer Gladney backed up Chief Posluszny’s assessment of him. It stated that Officer Gladney was nominated by a supervisor “who commended his strong work ethic, great attitude, communication skills and the assistance he lends to other officers and the community at large.”
   A beaming Officer Gladney accepted the Chief’s Achievement Award for the Outstanding Officer of the Year.
   Earlier in the evening, Officer Gladney was given the Meritorious Service Award — the second highest award in the Lawrence Township Police Department — for his role, along with police Officer Joseph Radlinsky, who also received a Meritorious Service Award — in preventing an armed robbery of the AT&T store on Princeton Avenue March 28.
   The police officers were conducting surveillance of the store after two men were observed outside the business a few days earlier, acting in a suspicious manner, the resolution said. The officers were positioned near the store and saw two men matching the description of the would-be robbers from the earlier incident.
   The men noticed the police officers and fled. Officers Gladney and Radlinsky chased them, and Officer Gladney caught one of the men. The other man escaped. As Officer Gladney was driving back to the Police Department, he saw a car driving on Princeton Avenue, whose driver met the description of the man who escaped. He stopped the car and arrested the driver.
   Officer Gladney received the Police Department’s Commendable Service Award for his role in arresting a man who had broken into several parked cars in the township.
   Officer Gladney was on patrol on Irwin Place on Oct. 26, 2012 when he noticed the interior light on in a parked car. He checked the car and found someone had rifled through the interior. He noticed a second car in the same driveway and when he checked on it, he found a man still inside the car.
   After he ordered the man out of the car and took him into custody, Officer Gladney discovered the man had items in his possession that had been stolen from other cars.
   ”You hear that the police get lucky (in solving a crime). No, you make your own luck. You get out and look around,” Chief Posluszny said, praising Officer Gladney.