Mayor to Present December 2023 Award of Excellence
Published on February 12, 2024
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today will present the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for December 2023 to Officer Pierce Krouse of the Lincoln Police Department. The award will be presented at 3 p.m. at the beginning of the City Council meeting at the County-City Building, 555 S. 10th Street. The awards recognize City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to Lincoln.
Officer Krouse was nominated by Sergeant Tu Tran in the category of valor for rescuing a kayaker from Holmes Lake in November 2023.
In his nomination, Sgt. Tran wrote that officers had been dispatched to the south side of Holmes Lake in the early evening to investigate reports of someone yelling for help. Officer Krouse joined the search effort on the north side of the lake and used his flashlight and vehicle lights to locate a female clinging to a kayak about 30 yards from shore.
Officer Krouse swam to the kayaker, moved her onto the vessel, then pushed them back to shore where officers had arrived to assist.
“Officer Krouse's quick and heroic actions most definitely saved this person's life as fatigue and hypothermia were setting in and the outcome would have been much different,” Sgt. Tran wrote. “We are proud of Officer Krouse's selfless actions and his willingness to risk his own safety for others.”
The other categories in which employees can be nominated are safety, productivity, loss prevention and customer relations. Consideration also may be given to nominations that demonstrate self-initiated accomplishments or those completed outside of the nominee’s job description. All City employees are eligible for the award except for elected and appointed officials.
Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates, and the public. Nomination forms are available at lincoln.ne.gov/awardofexcellence or from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Human Resources Department, which oversees the awards program.
All nominations are considered by the Mayor’s Award of Excellence Committee, which includes a representative with each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor. Award winners receive a $50 gift certificate, a day off with pay and a certificate. All monthly winners and nominees are eligible to receive the annual award, which comes with a $250 gift certificate, two days off with pay and a plaque.