Citizens Appreciate Public Safety (CAPS) held its annual award ceremony at Mesón Sabika for members of the Naperville Fire Department. CAPS recognized several members of the department who went above and beyond the call of duty, showing a genuine concern for the welfare and well-being of all Naperville citizens.
CAPS Award Winners
The CAPS award winners were firefighter/paramedics: Daryl MacDonald, Chuck Gros, David Hillis, and Scott Jackson, as well as Captain Stephen Shink.
Lieutenant Tammey Morris won the highest CAPS award of the evening: The George Winckler Award. Morris won for her development of peer support team policies, and procedures which provide mental health wellness, education and support to firefighters.
The George Winckler Award is named in honor of Lieutenant George Winckler, who served the Naperville fire department from 1965 to 1991. He died during a training incident in which he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Special Award Winners
Also honored was Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis, who received an award for his leadership of the accreditation process administered by the Center of Public Safety Excellence (CPSE).
While accreditation is not a requirement for fire departments, Naperville began applying for accreditation under Retired Chief Rawlfs in 1997. The CPSE evaluates all aspects of fire emergency service delivery. The group requires departments to have a documented plan, and a set of best practices to achieve a set of performance indicators and core competencies. Accreditation is a 5-year cycle of continuous improvement, judged every year with a compliance report, and every 5 years with an in-person site visit review. The Naperville Fire Department is one of only two agencies to have maintained its accredited status six consecutive times.
Ron Davidson was also recognized for his 12 years of service on the CAPS board. Davidson is retiring from the CAPS board at the end of the year.
Spring Ceremony
CAPS also holds a ceremony in the spring to honor members of the Naperville Police Department.
Photography provided by James Hoch Photography and Naperville Fire Department.
Naperville News 17’s Will Payne reports.
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