Civilian of the Year - Ben Clay

Officer of the Year - Scott McEntire

State CIT Officer of the Year - Capt. Bill Cochran

Commendation Bars

Medals of Valor

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The Topeka Police Department took time to honor some of its own Wednesday.

Topeka Police Chief Ron Miller presented the Civilian Employee of the Year award to Ben Clay for his work with TPD's volunteer program.

Named 2011 Officer of the Year was Scott McEntire, who serves on the response team and k-9 unit.

Miller also recognized the three officers whose work led to the arrests of nine people allegedly involved in a string of violent burglaries and a homicide. Miller says Officer Cobb and Detectives Hill and Barron used good old-fashioned police work to piece together information that led to the suspects.

Officer Jay Cobler received a commendation bar, while Officer Nicole Karr, Corporal Louis Cortez and Officer Cornwell were awarded medals of valor.

Also, Capt. Bill Cochran was named State Critical Incident Training Officer of the Year.

Read descriptions of what the officers did to earn their respective honors in the attached documents.