Officer John Duff is this year’s Officer of the Year. He is an 11-year veteran of the Department and is currently assigned to the Patrol South Bureau, first shift on beat for 22 Beat, which is located in the downtown area of Wichita. He has a remarkable ability to engage the community in solving problems and dealing with the criminal element. Officer Duff checks on elderly residents of an apartment complex on his beat. When he learned that a friend of several of the residents had passed away and they had no transportation to attend the funeral; John used his own time and vehicle to transport them to the funeral in Parsons, Kansas. John worked with Central Inspection to get a landlord to repair heating units
in a building occupied by elderly low-income residents. He has also obtained air conditions for elderly residents who could not afford them.
By utilizing his strong problem solving skills to deal with public safety issues and monitoring crime stats on his beat, Officer Duff realized the intersection of Lewis and Market was among the highest in the City for accidents. He surveyed residents near the intersection, interviewed people who had been involved in accidents at the location and reviewed accident reports. He determined that the traffic lights at the intersection were difficult to see. He contacted the City's traffic engineer and asked him to evaluate the problem. As a result, the lights were changed and are now 50 percent larger and since then no accidents have occurred.

This year’s Non-Sworn Employee of the Year is Donna Williams. Mrs. Williams has worked for the Department for almost two years as an Administrative Assistant of the Department’s budgeting and grant-administration. She oversees a five-member unit that is responsible for WPD personnel matters, making sure more than 800 employees receive accurate paychecks, that the correct process is followed for hiring new employees and insuring a proper resolution for all debts incurred by the organization.
  Ms. Williams has been highly successful in her efforts to assist Department members in soliciting both Federal and State funds and in administering them, once they have been approved.

Ms. Jan Lutz is this year’s Cooper/McKee Volunteer of the Year – an award that recognizes the unselfish commitment made to law enforcement by citizens who volunteer their time to the Department.
Ms. Lutz started her volunteer work in the summer of 2000, assisting the Gang Unit with updating information for the gang database. The work done by Ms. Lutz is tedious and very time consuming. It consists of reviewing several different reports of the people booked into the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility, people arrested and a summary of all incidents reported involving suspects or arrestees between the ages of 13 and 29. After the names on these lists are compared to the names in the gang database Ms. Lutz does the entry of information into the database. Having current information
available in the gang database also assists the Gang Unit detectives investigate gang related cases.
Ms. Lutz’s dedication and willingness to give her time to assist the Wichita Police Department is invaluable. With her assistance the Gang Unit is able to spend more time on the street obtaining intelligence information, enforcing laws on gang members and making Wichita a safer community.