The ceremony was held at Bridgeport High School inside “The Bridge,” where community members gathered to celebrate local law enforcement and the officers who serve Bridgeport.
BRIDGEPORT, Ohio — Bridgeport police officers were honored Thursday evening during the department’s 4th annual awards ceremony, an event that also brought a visit from Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson to recognize the agency’s work and learn what it needs to keep building on its success.
The ceremony was held at Bridgeport High School inside “The Bridge,” where community members gathered to celebrate local law enforcement and the officers who serve Bridgeport.
“We just really think that our officers deserve recognition for the work that they do,” Assistant Chief Darby Copeland said. “They work tirelessly day in, day out. They do very good work. We have a great cadre of officers, and we feel that it’s only appropriate that we should recognize them.”
Wilson served as the keynote speaker and spent most of the day with the Bridgeport Police Department. He said it is important for state policies, initiatives and laws to reflect what local officers need.
“We need to make sure that our policies, our initiatives and our laws that we put in place adequately reflect the needs of the men and women who are working in the trenches,” Wilson said. “As a matter of fact, if we don’t do that right, we can make their job harder. Well, the way we can best do that, the way we best understand what they need is by spending time with them.”
Copeland said the ceremony was also a chance for officers’ families and loved ones to share in recognizing their work.
“We have a small department, but a very, very proactive and active department, and we’d like to honor our officers,” Copeland said. “This is an opportunity for their families, significant others, so forth, to come out and celebrate their successes throughout the year.”
Wilson said awards and public recognition can’t fully reflect what officers face on the job.
“Look, we can give awards," Wilson said. "We can give plaques. We can give recognition, but nothing we say or do will adequately compensate these officers for what they deal with, what they do day in and day out."