Officer James Ghrist was honored with the Community Service Leader Award by the Munster Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber's Annual Dinner. The award was presented by Brad Hemingway, Past Chairman of the Board. This is his speech.
Good Evening, I am Brad Hemingway, Past Chairman of the board,
I have the honor of presenting the Community Service Leader Award, This award represents the benefit & betterment of the community and leadership shown above and beyond everyday responsibilities. Our recipient of this award shows these qualities and more. He makes appearances on WJOB & at our Monthly Chamber luncheon meetings. I have had many opportunities to talk with him personally on topics of training officers on identifying individuals in our community with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and how to better interact when encountering them in the community.
OFFICER JAMES GHRIST joined the Munster Police Department in 2000 and is a certified Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Instructor, School Resource Officer, Crime Prevention Officer, Bicycle Officer, and Indiana School Safety Specialist. He currently serves as the School Resource Officer for the three public and two parochial elementary schools and provides D.A.R.E. instruction to approximately 1,500 students in grades K-8 each year. Officer Ghrist also supervises the Munster Neighborhood & Business Crime Watch Programs, Nationally Recognized Night Out Against Crime Celebration, Police & Fire Charity Softball Event, Choice Community Council, Citizens Police Academy, "Cops & Kids" holiday shopping program, Dog Walker Watch Program, and "Coffee with a Cop" events and currently serves on the D.A.R.E. Indiana Advisory Council. He is also available to provide security surveys for homes, businesses, or faith-based groups along with station tours, safety talks, and child safety seat installation assistance for parents. You get his Weekly Munster Crime watch report.
Please help me welcome our Community Service Leader Award recipient Officer James Ghrist.
Jim, we greatly appreciate all your time spent making Munster a safe community. We would like to give you this $30 target gift card and I have a couple of special guests that would like to present you with a check. Your partners Nat The Knight and The DARE Lion. This check is for the amount of $1,000.00.
