Howard County's Top Cops Receive Awards for Work

Three of Howard County's finest were honored with awards at Wednesday night's police award ceremony.

Medal of Honor

Cpl. Craig Ream, an 11-year veteran of the force, received the Medal of Honor for his harrowing rescue of a young woman who was trapped inside a burning vehicle on the side of Route 97 in Carroll County. At the time, Ream was on his way to serve a search warrant, but when he saw the vehicle, he stopped and along with a Carroll County Sherriff's deputy, was able to extricate the woman from the car. She was later flown to Shock Trauma and is still in the hospital, but is alive. Ream suffered burns, cuts and scrapes, but wasn't seriously injured during the rescue on Jan. 11.

Police Officer of the Year

PFC Raymond Peele was awarded police officer of the year for his work in the patrol division. Police said his overall productivity is one of the highest in the entire patrol division—over the past year he conducted 318 traffic stops and had 180 arrests. He was also named police officer of the month in January.

Civilian Employee of the Year

While not an officer, Denise Eakle made a difference with her work behind the scenes. Eakle conducts pawn checks for the department, reviews suspicious pawns and identifies violations committed by pawn dealers. Her work keeps her busy, in 2012 she conducted more than 1,300 checks which identified 135 items as stolen. Those items were valued at more than $200,000.