The Marion Police Department recognizes Officer Mike Shade as the 2016 Officer of the Year. Officer Shade was nominated by his shift supervisors and voted as the Officer of the Year by members of the department.
Officer Shade graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1991 in Business Administration. From 1991 to 1996, he was an Investigator with the Marion County Child Support Enforcement Agency. In 1996, he attended the Law Enforcement Academy at Marion Tech and was hired by MPD on 11-11-96. Officer Shade was a FTO from 2000 to 2003 and a detective from 2003 to 2004 when he was promoted to Lieutenant. He is currently serving as a Lieutenant on first shift, standing in for Lt. Mark Beaschler who recently retired.
Officer Shade was nominated by his first shift supervisors because of his “tremendous example to other, younger members of his shift and this department in general. He is a long time veteran that has previous experience as a supervisor and he is sharing that knowledge with other officers on a constant basis.
“Mike is a leader, not a follower, and he has been a leader to several of the younger officers not only on first shift, but to officers department-wide. He leads by example and is the first to volunteer for extra work or follow up assignments that need done. He consistently jumps calls for other officers if he is close to it and helps others out on investigations if they need it. Mike is someone that we do not have to supervise a lot, he comes to us if he has questions about an issue, but he is superior when it comes to writing a report or investigating a situation.
“The first name to pop into my head when asked for an Officer of the Year candidate for 2016 was Mike Shade”, stated Lt. Matt Bayles. “Mike has been a tremendous asset to our shift with his hard work and knowledge of the job. He is a fine example for our younger officers to follow.”
On finding out that he was chosen as Officer of the Year, Officer Shade said, “I was thrilled just to get the nomination from my shift because I work with a great crew in which so many are equally deserving, if not more so, of being recognized.”
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