Staff Excellence Awards

On 16 August 2022, 20 South Australia Police staff members were awarded a Staff Excellence Award at the South Australia Police Academy. Staff Excellence Awards (previously known as Level 1 Service Awards) acknowledge employees and members of the public for acts of bravery or meritorious service in isolated instances over a period time.

SAPOL has been unable to issue these awards in the traditional way due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Linda Williams praised recipients at the ceremony.

"I am immensely proud of all recipients of a Staff Excellence Award today. Our officers are trained and equipped to protect the public and maintain their safety, but there are still inherent dangers in policing. These officers have demonstrated bravery in the face of confronting and dangerous situations with the one ultimate aim to ensure the safety of the community. At times this has meant putting their own lives at risk to save those in vulnerable situations. I commend these officers who are a credit to themselves and to SAPOL", said Deputy Commissioner Williams.

The awards, recipients and a short summary of the recipient's acts of bravery/meritorious service are below.

Incident	Medal	Recipient	Summary of actions
Residential house fire at Seacombe Gardens, October 2019	Police Bravery Medal	Constable Jesse Williams	Constable Williams acted with courage, determination and bravery at the scene of a house fire by entering a burning premises along with other police and rescuing an eldery male and his son from the house. Both occupants survived and recovered.
	Police Bravery Medal	Constable Justin Young	Constable Young acted with courage, determination and bravery at the scene of a house fire by entering a burning premises along with other police and rescuing an eldery male and his son from the house. Both occupants survived and recovered.
Residential house fire at Paralowie, May 2019	Police Bravery Medal	Brevet Sergeant Gregory Blieden (then Constable)	Brevet Sergeant Blieden acted courageously and with sustained determination by entering a burning house multiple times along with other police, in an attempt to locate a child inside. Following medical intervention the child survived the incident.
	Police Bravery Medal	Brevet Sergeant Bradley Galpin (then Constable)	Brevet Sergeant Galpin acted courageously and with sustained determination by entering a burning house multiple times along with other police, in an attempt to locate a child inside. Following medical intervention the child survived the incident.
	Certificate of Commendation	Detective Brevet Sergeant Trudie Pursche	Detective Brevet Sergeant Pursche demonstrated leadership and decision-making by taking on a critical leadership role while other police were attempting to locate a child inside a burning house. Following medical intervention the child survived the incident.
Residential house fire at Glengowrie, August 2015	Police Bravery Medal	Senior Constable Steven Westcott	Senior Constable Westcott acted with courage, determination and bravery by entering a residential house fire along with other police and pulling a 78 year old woman from the burning premises.
	Police Bravery Medal	Senior Sergeant David Lewis	Senior Sergeant Lewis acted with courage, determination and bravery by entering a residential house fire along with other police and pulling a 78 year old woman from the burning premises.
	Certificate of Commendation	Sergeant Kerry Mountford	Sergeant Mountford acted with determination and dedication at the scene of a residential house fire by assisting other police to perform CPR on a 78 year old woman who had been pulled from the burning premises.
Domestic violence incident at Ingle Farm, May 2019	Certificate of Merit	Constable Jock McLeay	Constable McLeay acted courageously and responsibly in the face of significant risk to his life by confronting an armed offender. Constable Mcleay subdued the offender using his service firearm and then immediately rendered first aid.
Aggravated robbery at West Lakes Shore, February 2019	Police Bravery Medal	Detective Brevet Sergeant Robert Lengyel	Detective Brevet Sergeant Lengyel acted with courage and determination during an aggravated robbery which occurred while he was off-duty inside the premises. Despite being unarmed and without operational equipment, Detective Brevet Sergeant Lengyel tackled the armed offender and disarmed and restrained the offender until other police arrived on the scene.
Domestic dispute at Elizabeth North, April 1977	Police Bravery Medal	Detective Senior Sergeant First Class Glenn Jeffries (then Probationary Constable)	Retired Detective Senior Sergeant First Class Jeffries is recognised for his courageous actions at the scene of a domestic dispute where he was shot multiple times and continued to assist another police officer. Detective Senior Sergeant First Class Jeffries recovered from his injuries and went on to return to policing duties and serve more than 40 years.
	Police Bravery Medal	Sergeant James Tappin (then Constable)	Sergeant Tappin is recognised for his courageous actions at the scene of a domestic dispute where he recieved a life-threatening gunshot wound. Sergeant Tappin recovered from his injuries and went on to return to policing duties and serve more than 40 years.
High risk and volatile incident, August 2020	Unit Certificate of Merit	Special Tasks and Rescue (STAR) Group - Operations Section	Special Tasks and Rescue (STAR) Group - Operations Section are recognised for their superior performance in response to a high risk and volatile incident where an offender was threatening to blow up his house using LPG. When the offender started a fire inside the premises STAR Operations members reacted by forcing entry into the house and rescuing the now unconscious offender, placing their own lives at risk.