Cape County sheriff gives annual Ruopp, Copeland awards to members of office

Lt. Jason Ladner received the Timothy J. Ruopp Award from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office on May 17 as part of its observance of Law Enforcement Memorial Week.

Ladner started at the sheriff's office as a civilian corrections officer in 2005 before leaving in 2010. He later returned in 2016 and was promoted to jail corporal in 2017. He then served in the office's patrol division in 2018 before being promoted, again, to his current role, of lieutenant of the jail division in 2019.

The award's namesake is a former member of the office who was killed in the line of duty in 1984 in San Diego. The award has been presented to "the most outstanding officer of the year" annually since Ruopp's death, a news release from the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson presented Ladner with the award. The sheriff won the award twice herself, in 1986 and 2008. She was the first person to ever win the award multiple times.

Dickerson also gave out three Copeland Excellence awards to an employee in the field, business and jail operations, respectively. The awards are named after former Sheriff Norman Copeland. He served as the county's chief law enforcement officer for eight years, retiring in 1994.

The awards are given to "the employee of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office who has demonstrated they are indeed striving for excellence in the performance of the task assigned to them," the news release said.

Ethan Garnett, patrol deputy, received the award for field operations; Julie Mansfield, civil process clerk, received the business operations award; and Sgt. Trent Crihfield received the jail division award.