Petoskey public safety presents awards, details 2024 activity in annual report

At the March 3 Petoskey City Council meeting, Public Safety Director Adrienne Rockey Carr presented departmental awards for meritorious actions and summarized the Petoskey Department of Public Safety's 2024 annual report.

Carr opened the presentation by thanking attendees and noting the department's internal awards process, saying, "this isn't me recognizing all of the officers, it's them recognizing each other, which I think makes this even more important, as well as the community." She told council a full report would be posted on the department website the following day.

The annual report numbers Carr cited included 9,463 calls for service and 8,193 complaint numbers; she also said juvenile complaints were up and that department traffic enforcement increased, reporting 801 more traffic stops in 2024 than in 2023. Carr described detective and school resource officer activity, training and community outreach work that she said contributed to those totals.

Council and the department also recognized individual and unit actions from 2024. Among the awards Carr announced: - A public safety citation to PSO Larry Donovan for leading the effort to place and fund-train an emotional-support dog, Ace, for the middle school and to serve as the animal's primary caregiver once training is complete. - Public safety citations to PSO Frederick Houck, PSO John Dutch and PSO Scott Lamont (and others named in the citation) for their roles in a multi-agency track-and-apprehend operation following an armed robbery reported on Jan. 5, 2025. - A public safety accommodation to Detective Scott Lamont and PSO Michael Dolan for work that led to recovery of a large wire transfer following a suspected fraud complaint. - A unit citation recognizing PSO Carl Fritz, PSO Larry Donovan, PSO Alexis Steele and PSO Connor Kish for caring for a child while awaiting emergency placement after an incident on June 14, 2024. - A unit citation for PSO William Bowen, PSO Hunter Arnold and PSO Adam Klenza for a thorough after-hours search of Petoskey school facilities after a tip about live ammunition. - A letter of commendation to office manager Gina Ellenberger for her work during a department lean audit, which auditors told Carr produced a 0% error rate across sampled records. - The Mayor's Award to Public Safety Officer Ben Carlson for his work with students and staff as a school resource officer. - Chief's Awards for community members and groups, including Petoskey varsity and junior varsity baseball teams for helping to locate a missing child, crossing guard Edward Nowick, and school staffer Melanie Zamron for lifesaving action during a choking incident.

Carr also summarized investigative and operational highlights, noting Detective Scott Lamont handled 150 new cases and that a new detective, Will Bowen, began a three-year assignment. She said the department completed 904 fire and emergency medical calls in 2024 (which Carr broke into 290 fire responses and 614 medical responses) and completed 82 fire and life-safety inspections through three certified fire inspectors. Carr said the department hosted and attended multiple training sessions, including a full-day event presented by an unnamed university instructor with about 80 attendees from 35 agencies.

Mayor and council thanked officers for service and community engagement. Mayor noted the department responded to more than 9,000 calls last year and called officers "ambassadors to the city." Carr closed by encouraging the public to review the full annual report when it is posted online.

The council did not take formal action on the annual report during the meeting; Carr said the document would be available on the department website.