Three members of UPD honored by SUNY Police Chiefs Association

Three members of University Police are recipients of 2020 SUNY Police Chiefs Awards, including a UB lieutenant whose award is among the highest honors given by the SUNY Police Chiefs Association.

Lt. Christopher Kerr received the SUNY Police Chiefs Heroism Award for disarming a man planning to commit suicide who was driving toward the emergency room of the Buffalo VA Medical Center with a shotgun in his lap.

Technical specialist Daryl Kempf and equipment specialist Scott Wallace received the SUNY Chiefs Professional Service Award for twice moving UPD’s communications center to another location to escape construction noise.

The men were among 45 members of University Police departments who were honored for heroism, lifesaving efforts and professional service during a virtual ceremony held last month.

“It’s always a pleasure and honor to recognize the professional service, lifesaving efforts and acts of heroism of our members,” says UB Police Chief Chris Bartolomei, who also serves as president of the SUNY Police Chiefs Association. “Their actions to protect and serve — no matter what the world is facing — are a reminder of why we chose this profession.”

Kerr’s award recognizes “actions taken at great personal risk, and for his heroic dedication to the safety of everyone involved” following a call on Jan. 4, 2020. A man with a handgun in his lap was driving toward the emergency room entrance of the VA hospital near the South Campus. The man had told others he was planning to commit suicide.

Worried the man may harm someone in the hospital, Kerr and UB Officers Robert Adamski and Michael Puerner surrounded the man in his car, which he had parked on the rooftop of the VA parking garage. After being told by Kerr to place his hands on the steering wheel, the man told officers he wanted to die and officers needed to shoot him. The man started to drive out of the garage and head toward the VA emergency room entrance.

Police blocked the man’s car and drew their weapons. Kerr continued to attempt to negotiate with the man, without success. After noticing the man periodically reaching for his gun with his left hand, he decided that immediate action was necessary.

Kerr asked Adamski and a Buffalo Police lieutenant who was standing on the passenger side of the vehicle to attempt to distract the man to get his attention focused to that side of the vehicle. When Kerr saw the driver turn to look toward the passenger side of the vehicle, he quickly reached into the vehicle to gain control of the man’s left hand and successfully snatched the weapon from the man’s lap.

Officers, including Adamski and Puerner, Immediately pulled the man out of the car. They secured the loaded semiautomatic pistol, along with a knife found in the driver’s side-door compartment, and an open bottle of liquor from inside the vehicle.

“Due to the required criteria, nomination of one of our officers for the heroism award is a fairly rare occurrence,” Bartolomei says. “Lt Kerr clearly put his own safety at risk in order to successfully de-escalate this volatile and dangerous situation without loss of life nor harm to anyone involved.”

Kempf and Wallace received their professional service awards for their response to a situation in which noise from renovations — specifically from a nearby jackhammer — disrupted the department’s dispatch communications. They worked quickly to move the communications center to another location inside the station in Bissell Hall without interrupting essential services. The two also worked extensively to address issues with the implementation of a new digital radio system.

Later during that project, asbestos concerns forced Kempf and Wallace to relocate dispatch once again — this time to a different campus entirely. Once again, this was accomplished without any interruption in service.

“Daryl and Scott are both exceptionally dedicated individuals who could be recognized for their professional service in any given year,” Bartolomei points out. “But this year has been exceptionally challenging, and no two people could be more deserving.”

UB police officials say the dispatch operation in the South Campus substation will remain a fully functioning backup dispatch center, something UB Police has been looking to accomplish for the past 20 years.

Those receiving awards were praised by SUNY Police’s top administrators.

“In a year full of tragedy, separation and anxiety about the future, the men and women of our university police departments — through selfless actions both big and small — provided light and hope when we needed it most,” said State University Police Commissioner Frank Lawrence.

“My heartfelt congratulations to this year’s award recipients. You all exemplify the excellence and sacrifice that exists across our University Police force.”