Sergeant Nick Johnson; Alexander’s 2019 Employee of the Year

City of Alexander Police Sergeant Nick Johnson was named 2019 Employee of the Year. The award was presented to Johnson by Mayor Paul Mitchell at the Fourth Annual Mayor’s Award Dinner held Friday, September 20.

Department heads also handed out awards to deserving employees in other categories. How to choose the recipients, however, was a constant theme throughout the evening.

During one of the mayor’s weekly meetings with department heads Mayor Mitchell, “[A]sked each of the department heads to think about the city employees and comment on which one had done the most for their fellow employees across the entire city,” Assistant Police Chief Richard Harper said describing how Employee of the Year was chosen. “A conversation ensued and unanimously they thought of Nick Johnson.”

Before Mayor Mitchell presented the Employee of the Year award to Sergeant Johnson, Harper described Johnson’s accomplishments this past year.

“The biggest thing that Nick’s done this year is he solved a problem that we had with tracking of citations, arrests, misdemeanor case files, and traffic citations; which doesn't sound like a big deal,” Harper began. “But, it was so messed up that it caused a rift between the police department, the court clerk's office, the judge, and the prosecutors. And, it was actually starting to affect citizens as well; people getting charged for things two different times. So, Sergeant Johnson, on his own initiative, developed the tracking system for arrest warrants, criminal traffic citation and case files that completely eliminated this problem. This was something that we've been hit on state audits on, so his efforts completely eliminated that problem and has gone the farthest to do something for everyone in the city.”

“In 2018 we promoted Nick to sergeant and in his promotion letter he was given the following responsibilities,” Harper said. “It read, ‘Equally important to your duty to guide subordinates is your duty to provide blunt and honest feedback to the chain-of-command, when necessary, to help them better serve our citizens and our police officers.’ Nick Johnson is very good at providing blunt feedback, if any of y'all know him, and we rely on that. And, he's not only fulfilled those duties … he's been a mentor to all the employees of the city and we just like to thank you for that.”

Mayor Paul Mitchell presents Employee of the Year Award
to Sergeant Nick Johnson.

“If he has any adversity in his life, which he has quite a bit, you can always count on him to be at work,” Mayor Mitchell said before presenting Johnson with the award. “No matter what happens it amazes all of us. He could be in the hospital, for instance, next day he’s at work. So if nothing, that is dedication. When you could very well take time off, or use it (sick leave) for that, but he prefers to be at work. So we all decided as a group, myself and all the department heads, that he was the guy (to receive the award).”

Reading the inscription on the award Mitchell said, “The City of Alexander Mayor’s Employee of the Year award, presented to Sergeant Nick Johnson on this date September 20 of 2019 by Mayor Paul Mitchell for outstanding dedication and service to the City of Alexander.”

“Thank you for all you do,” Mitchell added.

Turning the awards ceremony back over to Assistant Police Chief Richard Harper the issue of how to choose an award recipient came up again.

“Just about every year that Chief (Robert) Burnett and I have been in leadership, here at the department, it's been a difficult task to decide on the Officer of the Year,” Harper said. “It's always difficult because the outstanding work that our our people do; lives saved with CPR, personal property recovered, repairing a broken K-9 program as Nick (Johnson) did, repairing a broken Reserve Program as Sergeant McKeever did, or just being there to let citizens know they have a voice.”

Harper said he and Chief Burnett tried to devise a way to whittle down the group to a smaller number of officers to make the selection process easier. Their first option was to disqualify everyone who had any type of disciplinary action.

“So I went down the list of officers and what I found was that each and every one of us, not only including but especially the Chief of Police and the Assistant Chief of Police, had at a bare minimum had a lengthy and colorful butt-chewing, or verbal counseling, which is allowed sometimes; colorful counseling meant to correct perceived or actual performance deficiencies,” Harper said. “So that plan didn't work.”

It was at the weekly department head meeting, during which the Employee of the Year was chosen, that Harper says his dilemma was solved. He took the Mayor’s, “[W]hich one had done the most for their fellow employees across the entire city,” concept and applied it to the police department.

“Which police officer went the farthest to ease the burden on their fellow police officer,” Harper said. “Which one’s work went the farthest to ease burden on leadership. And, which officer’s work went the farthest to ease the suffering and bring relief to the most crime victims.”

Detective Jessica Burnett (formerly Hill) was selected as the Alexander Police Department’s Officer of the Year.

Detective Jessica Burnett (L) and

Assistant Police Chief Richard Harper.

“Detective Burnett’s work this year has helped the Alexander Police Department administration build infrastructure that frees patrol officers from the time-consuming evidence handling and case file management tasks; allowing them to focus on preventing and disrupting criminal activity through proactive police work,” Harper said reading from the certificate. “Through her case file management, affidavit and warrant writing ability Detective Burnett has this year proven to judges (and) prosecutors that the Alexander Police Department is now a highly capable professional law enforcement agency. Detective Burnett this year recovered three stolen vehicles, three stolen firearms and more than $200,000 of personal property taken from the citizens of Alexander, Bryant, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Cabot, and surrounding rural communities. Administrators inherited from previous leadership of this department an evidence vault which housed items from resolved and unresolved cases; ranging from homicide to criminal mischief. The vast majority of these cases have been resolved years ago yet the evidence remained in the locker. Upon being signed as evidence custodian Detective Burnett researched hundreds of criminal cases and scribed, by hand, data from those cases for more than 1,000 pieces of evidence. She then developed a spreadsheet to help organize the evidence and formulate a comprehensive order of destruction for presentation to a judge. Her efforts were validated and praised by both the prosecuting attorney and the judge. Thanks to detective Burnett’s efforts we now have an efficient evidence system. This year's been a trial by fire for Detective Burnett with regard to sexual assault investigations and as usual she has rose to the occasion. Her tireless dedication to the residents of Alexander has provided closure and promoted healing for dozens of child and adult victims of sexual abuse. In a very short period of time she has forged partnerships with Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division and many domestic violence outreach programs. Her efforts have closed the terrible gap in the violence and sexual abuse investigation services that existed in this community for a long time. Detective Burnett’s tireless dedication of her team and the residents of our community bringing great credit upon herself and all who serve in law enforcement. Congratulations. Assistant Chief Richard Harper.”

Harper then moved on to the final police department award, Police Supervisor of the Year. This year the award goes to Sergeant Brandon McKeever.

“Brandon McKeever came to work for Alexander Police Department as an experienced patrol officer during the time when the staff and the infrastructure of our department was being completely overhauled by Chief Burnett,” Harper said reading from the certificate. “His loyalty and can-do attitude and willingness to mentor less experienced officers resulted in his promotion to sergeant over the patrol division in 2017. Every year Sergeant McKeever contributes immeasurably to the training and readiness of the officers in his charge. This year he led by example in professional appearance and proactive law enforcement. Despite his heavy supervisory responsibilities Sergeant McKeever led the department himself initiated DWI arrests and was the go-to police officer for the hard-to-find hard-to-catch fugitives and stolen vehicles in the city. Sergeant McKeever chaired the police officer interview panel resulting in hiring eight highly capable auxiliary police officers and two full-time police officers. As the pro front line supervisor and auxiliary program manager he ensured three thousand-plus citizens of Alexander had 24/7 police coverage with only four full-time patrol officers and eight auxiliary officers; all of whom have professional commitments outside the department. This year the department schedule is stretched nearly to the breaking point by mandatory training, illnesses of officers and their family members, military commitments of our two Armed Forces members, and a lack of funds for overtime that would be used to cover the gaps. On multiple occasions the patrol schedule would need to be changed two or three times in a single day. No matter what scheduling challenge was presented to Sergeant McKeever at any given hour of his sleep-cycle he would simply respond to me, ‘We'll get it handled.’ And, every day for the past year that's what he's done.”

“Congratulations on a job well done and thank you for the work that you do that lets me [sic] and Rob go to sleep at night,” Harper said to McKeever.

Police Chief Robert Burnett (L) and Sergeant Brandon 

McKeever. Gumby pin in inset.

“One word to describe Sergeant McKeever’s work ethic is an ability that's flexible,” Harper said to explain McKeever’s nickname, “Sergeant Gumby.”

While explaining McKeever’s nickname Harper was pinning him with an official Gumby pin.

“It took me a long time to find that, and it's vintage, so don't break it,” Harper said. “It cost more than the award.”

“The reason these guys do what they do is because the city works as a team together,” Mitchell said before introducing the next department head. “And, I'm proud of every department, everything that they do and how they do it.

Fire Department Chief Mark Ridgeway was up next. He too had a similar problem choosing Firefighter of the Year. Standing next to him was Assistant Fire Chief Noah Harrison.

Firefighter Heath Goins (L) and Fire Chief Mark Ridgeway.

“We were trying to think of who would be the best candidate for firefighter of the year,” Ridgeway said. “Kind of along the same lines; who didn’t get wrote up, were suspended or whatever the case may be. This firefighter, he's done a great job for us. If we need something he does it. He's pretty handy. Couldn’t think of a better candidate this year.”

This year’s Firefighter of the Year is Heath Goins, who almost didn’t attend the awards dinner. Chief Ridgeway had to convince Goins to attend without spilling the beans.

“He was not coming tonight,” Ridgeway said. He just had ... surgery,” and “[J]ust got released to come back to light duty Monday.”

Ridgeway also inaugurated a new award category this year, the Chief’s Award. The first recipient of the award is Assistant Fire Chief Noah Harrison.

Assistant Fire Chief Noah Harrison (R) and
Fire Chief Mark Ridgeway.

“Assistant Chief Harrison, he's done a lot for me; took a lot of weight off of my shoulders” Ridgeway said. “He keeps up with scheduling, sick time, keeps the guys in line when I'm not around, doing stuff for the mayor, or whatever I need to do. He's just helped me out tremendously with everything ... so I’d like to present (Assistant) Chief Harrison with the Chief’s Award.”

Streets/Parks Department Supervisor David Durham was the final department head to present awards.

Rod Chapman (L) and David Durham.

“As you know we have a small parks and recreation department and street department,” Durham said. “But, I do have two guys that I rely on a whole lot and they go above and beyond all the time. Any time I call them they're there. Anything we need; everybody knows you can always stop the white truck, they'll do whatever they need to for anybody. And, I just wanted to let my guys know how much I appreciate them and what they do for the citizens; what they do for me.”

The first Certificate of Appreciation for Job Performance award was presented to Rod Chapman. Until this year street department staff would also be used to work in the city park. Because working hours had to be kept separate between streets and parks, starting in the 2019 budget Chapman is listed as a Parks Department employee. He does help the street department when needed.

“I just want to let you know Rod how much I appreciate you for all you do for me and for everybody in the city,” Durham said.

Kyle Martin (L) and Streets/Parks Department
Supervisor David Durham.

Street Department employee Kyle Martin was also presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for Job Performance. Martin is one of the more recent additions to the department.

“My right hand in the street department,” Durham said. “He has helped me a lot in a very short period of time. He's not afraid to take on anything and he's gonna be a great asset for the city.”

“Mr. Mayor, I want to thank you for all you do for us in our little street and parks department,” Durham continued. “And all the council members, thank you so very much for all your help. We couldn't do it without you.”

Before Mayor Mitchell could end the festivities his wife, Genny Mitchell, stepped up to present him with a gift certificate.

Genny Mitchell (L) and Mayor Paul Mitchell.

“From the Sons and Daughters of God Bible Study, we would like to recognize you and tell you thank you and that we appreciate all that you do in community outreach,” Genny Mitchell said. “Thank you so much.”

“One reason why I try to gather up everyone here for dinner, me and my wife want to pay back to the employees of the city,” Mayor Mitchell said earlier in the evening. “Things that they do, they take a load off of me. I don't have to worry about have [sic] hands-on on everything because these guys are handling the job (and) they're personnel; so they're not always coming to me. They do a good job.”