April 20 saw a record turnout at the 32nd annual Redford Chamber Police and Fire awards.

The Redford Chamber of Commerce hosted the event, attended by business owners, residents, community groups, dignitaries and family members of the honorees.

The night started out with the presentation of colors by the Redford Police Honor Guard in its crisp new uniforms, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by the Redford police explorers, commanded by Officer Jennifer Mansfield.

The audience was treated to the national anthem by Thurston High School graduate Brian Wilson. After the invocation was read by Redford Police Chaplain Wade Natho, attendees, honorees and family members enjoyed dinner together before the awards were presented.

The dinner was made possible by donations and sponsorships from the Detroit Diesel Corp., Kolle Chiropractic, Matick Chevrolet and many other local businesses and residents.

After dinner, co-hosts of the event Brian Taylor of Homeline Appliance and Bruce Bovee of North Redford Towing kicked off the awards ceremonies, introducing a long list of dignitaries in attendance, including state Sen. David Knezek, state Rep. Leslie Love, Wayne County Commissioner Diane Webb and local elected officials.

The night was then turned over to Police Chief Eric Pahl and Fire Chief Scott Demoff to present their awards.

The award recipients were selected by the chiefs, as well as fellow police officers and firefighters. Thirteen police officers were given commendation awards. A  Livonia officer and two Redford officers received multiple awards.

The commendation awards recognized the police work of the officers ranging from preventing theft of catalytic converters and recovering stolen weapons to saving an inmate at the jail from an attempted suicide.  Several life-saving awards were also issued to officers and dispatcher Ellen Eggenberger for spending nearly two hours on the phone to prevent a caller from committing suicide. Police were able to reach the caller before he could harm himself.

Ibrahim Sleiman.was named 2016 Police Officer of the Year. He received five awards for his exemplary police work. Sleiman has been with the department since 2014. He is currently assigned to road patrol working the night shift. He is also an active member of the perimeter rifle team and has been a member of Western Wayne SWAT since October 2015.

“The dinner is a nice opportunity to have the officers recognized publicly for the great police work that is done in Redford," Pahl said.

In the fire department, firefighters are presented with unit awards from their peers. These awards are given to the firefighter that makes a positive impact on their unit. One award is issued for each of the three units. This year’s recipients were Lt. Roy Birchmeier for Unit 1, Engineer Josh Coleman for Unit 2 and firefighter Matt Zmuda for Unit 3.  More than 40 merit awards were issued to 24 firefighters, with many being multiple winners for their efforts and hard work.

The merit awards are given for life-saving efforts made by firefighter/paramedics. Situations range from excavating injured drivers with Jaws of Life from a rollover accident to delivering a baby within eight minutes of the 9-1-1 dispatch call.

Because of the quick response time and intense training of firefighter/paramedics, all of the emergency calls had happy endings.  “It’s an absolute honor being a member of the Redford Township Fire Department. We don’t do this job to receive medals and awards. We do it because we enjoy helping people. But we are so grateful and honored that the chamber of commerce hosts this event each year to recognize all the hard work that men and women of the police and fire departments do," said Engineer Dan Borsuck, a recipient of three awards.

The 2016 Firefighter of the Year, Jason Kiekbusch, was also a multiple-award winner. Kiekbusch joined the department in November 2013.  He quickly enrolled himself into a grant writing program and has since won the department $200,000 in grants that enabled the department to buy new life-saving equipment, including new extrication tools.

Kiekbusch is also responsible for the new federal grant recently submitted that would bring six new firefighter/paramedics to Redford, allowing for a much-needed third rescue squad to be put into full-time service.

“The chamber dinner shows us that the community is proud of the firefighters and the job that we do. It’s always nice to get some appreciation for a career that we love to do. Thank you to the chamber and to Redford Township,” Demoff said.

Taylor, chamber board member and event co-chair, added: “This was our largest turnout in years. We hope to have an even bigger turnout next year. This is a great opportunity for the community to come together and show our appreciation to the men and women that are out there risking their lives on a daily basis.”

Redford Fire Chief Scott Demoff, with 2016 Firefighter of the Year Jason Kiekbusch (left).