Police honor crossing guard, code inspector
The Milwaukee Police Department recognized officers, detectives and citizens who have gone above and beyond at Tuesday’s annual Spring Merit Awards ceremony.
Officer David Letteer received the Purple Star of Valor, one of the department’s highest honors, after he was hit by a drunken driver.
Letteer was standing behind his squad car at a call in 2016 when a speeding car crashed into him, throwing him in the air. His wrist was broken and his jaw and knee were injured.
He returned to full duty eight months after the crash and “has demonstrated courage and perseverance while recovering from this tragedy,” the department said in a release.
Police officials presented the families of Andrew Tyler and Greg “Ziggy” Zyszkiewicz with honorary plaques.
Tyler, 71, was killed last November by a hit-and-run driver while he was walking to his post as a crossing guard. At his funeral, police officials honored Tyler with the Purple Star of Valor, marking the first time the award was given to a civilian department member. The suspected driver was arrested and charged.
Zyszkiewicz was working as a city home inspector when he was shot and killed March 22, 2017, in an attempted carjacking. He was a civil servant for more than 30 years. Three people have been charged in his killing.
Other citizens honored include Pamela Duenas and Hermelindo Mota, who rushed to pull 36-year-old Hector M. Hernandez from a burning car after a hit-and-run crash.
Hernandez died from his injuries in the crash, which occurred Nov. 1 after another driver ran a red light at West Becher Street and South Muskego Avenue.
Duenas and Mota showed “extreme bravery and selflessness” and “gave compassion to the victim in the last moments of his life,” according to the department.
Two officers who garnered national and local media attention for helping another victim in a burning car received the Medal of Valor Rescue Award.
Officers Nicholas Schlei and Nicholas Reid — known as “The Nick Squad” — were on patrol near North 55th Street and West Villard Avenue the day after Christmas when a car crashed into a utility pole. The two officers pulled two 16-year-old boys from the burning car, which landed on its roof.
The department also recognized specialty units. In 2017, the Homicide Unit solved 23 cases from prior years, including the shooting death of 9-year-old Za’Layia Jenkins.
The Police Department had a 78% clearance rate for homicides, the highest in Milwaukee since 2009. A case is considered cleared when an arrest is made or when a suspect has been identified without the possibility of arrest.
Under FBI guidelines, clearance rates include all homicide arrests in a given year, regardless of when the crime occurred.
The Community Prosecution Unit in District 2 also was honored for shutting down problem properties linked to prostitution and drug activity on the city’s near south side.