Officer Thomas Hupp and Office Coordinator Cindy Reid were awarded for their dedication and contribution for keeping Sinclair Community College campuses safe, according to Lt. Scott Fowler.
“Everyone and anyone within the department can nominate someone who has helped with crime prevention,” he said.
Hupp’s nomination for the Miami Valley Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year award came from Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police at Sinclair, Charles Gift. Gift said he nominated Hupp because of an ongoing investigation concerning locker break-ins and thefts at Sinclair.
“I was honored and excited about the nomination,” Hupp said. “And to get a nomination from Charles Gift is telling me that I am doing a great job.”
Hupp was assigned to investigate these crimes and later awarded for doing such a commendable job. During the investigation, Sinclair had a series of locker break-ins, in the basement level of Building 6. It was later found that some of the stolen books were sold at the Tri-College Bookstore.
“We were then able to obtain the names of the person who sold those books and develop other information to get search warrants,” Gift said.
From the search warrants obtained, it was later found that the criminals were not only stealing from Sinclair students, but were also linked to several crimes at both UD and Wright State University.
What was uncovered next is something Hupp said he will never forget.
“It was through the search warrant that we were able to locate the stolen property,” he said. “We recovered $9,000 worth of stolen musical equipment from Wright State, a stolen assault rifle and textbooks stolen from Sinclair students,” Hupp said.
Three suspects have been identified and two of the suspects have been arrested. The other suspect has not been captured but has a warrant out against him in reference to these crimes.
Fighting crime behind the scenes, Cindy Reid was nominated for the Miami Valley Crime Prevention Team Player of the Year Award by Officer Toscani.
“He nominated her and I had to concur because of all the work she does against crime prevention here at Sinclair,” Gift said.
While Reid’s responsibilities vary on a day-to-day basis, She provides crime statistics to Fowler and Toscani who are crime prevention officers, so that they can determine any crime patterns occurring on Sinclair campuses. Reid also maintains all of the department records, types any reports concerning arrest and handles lost and found.
Once receiving the nomination Reid was very shocked.
“It was a complete surprise,” she said. “I had the day off when Chief called me on my cell phone and told me. I was totally blown away.”
Reid won the award because of how dedicated she is to the cause of crime prevention and her contribution in helping keep Sinclair safe.
“I think it is important to know that Cindy Reid and Officer Hupp are very energetic and conscientious employees that are very dedicated and who are recognized by Sinclair and also by outside organizations,” Gift said. “Also, it is important that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed because they both do an excellent job on a daily basis.”