The Park City Elks Lodge gathered at the Miners Hospital Saturday for a barbecue dinner and to recognize the area’s first responders with its annual awards. This year’s honorees were:
- Park City Fire District firefighter of the year — Paramedic Joe Sharrar
- Park City Police Department officer of the year — Kacey Comer
- Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputy of the year — McKade Rushton
- Utah Highway Patrol trooper of the year — Brent Strong
- Summit County emergency medical technician of the year — Tyler Cox
Park City Fire Battalion Chief Darren Nelson said Sharrar “exemplifies the best of everything the Park City Fire District represents within the community.” Nelson said Sharrar is always humble, and that he comes from a family of first responders — his father was a Los Angeles firefighter and his mother a Los Angeles police officer.
“(Joe’s) long list of contributions set him apart as an outstanding leader within the organization and among his peers,” Nelson said.
Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said Comer, who has worked with the department full time since 2016 and as a reserve for several years before that, has held numerous responsibilities in law enforcement, including serving on the Summit/Wasatch SWAT Team, as a defensive tactics instructor and as a member of the department’s peer support team.
“Officer Comer represents the department in an exemplary fashion with everything he does,” Carpenter said. “He is constantly going above and beyond what is asked of him, always looking for any way in which he can serve the community he has sworn to protect.”
Summit County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Ken Jones spoke highly of Rushton, who was hired into the communications division but “always let it be known that he wished to become a patrol deputy.” Jones said he recently took over the patrol division and immediately noticed what a hard worker Rushton is.
“I was running some reports I’d been given and Rushton had four times the arrests of the average patrol deputy,” Jones said. “And this was during COVID.”
Jones said Rushton paid special attention to arresting motorists driving under the influence, which while only a misdemeanor is “a lot of work for a cop.”
“But we know the havoc DUIs create in the community,” Jones said.
UHP Lt. Randall Richey said Strong has been with the patrol for only three years but has already established himself as a valuable member of the organization. As a part of UHP’s public protection unit, which is used for crowd management, Strong spent a great deal of time in Salt Lake City last year during the protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.
“He had a really busy year last year and was pulled away often for that assignment,” Richey said. “When he wasn’t tasked with the crowd management assignment, Trooper Strong worked hard to keep the highways safe in this area and was one of our leaders in removing impaired drivers from the road.”
Strong is a Spanish speaker, Richey said, and often assists other troopers when help with translation is needed.
“He is always willing to help and has earned the respect of the troopers, deputies and officers he works with,” Richey said. “On top of that, Trooper Strong is one of the nicest, most positive people you will ever meet and the UHP frequently receives correspondence complimenting (his) demeanor and attitude.”
Park City Fire Department Battalion Chief Ashley Lewis said Cox has been an exemplary EMT who “takes every opportunity he can to make himself and those around him better.” Cox recently accepted a full-time position with the district and as such has taken on much more responsibility, including training and scheduling. Lewis pointed to an emergency call Cox and his partner responded to a few months ago, a serious call involving a person who had a dangerously slow heart rate. Their life was in jeopardy, Lewis said, but Cox followed protocol and did everything right.
“You never know what you’re going to see when you show up. There’s a lot going on, a lot to consider,” Lewis said. “But Tyler and his partner did everything right, they pushed the appropriate medications to bring this person back and this person is here today because of Tyler.”
Lewis also thanked the Elks Lodge for its support after the recent death of Fire Chief Paul Hewitt.
“Thank you for allowing us to lean on you a little bit after that tragic event,” he said.