Five Indiana officers honored with Maritime Law Enforcement Excellence Awards

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Five officers were recipients of Maritime Law Enforcement Excellence Awards on Thursday.

Awards were given to the Coast Guard Station in Michigan City, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan City Police Department.

The officers were honored for their efforts and achievements during the 2018 boating season.

Some officers were commended on the number of boating under the influence citations and they were proud to be recognized for their accomplishments.

"It's pretty humbling to get recognized for doing part of the job that I do all the time. I'm one of the standardized field sobriety instructors for the state of Indiana, it's actually a national program, so it's pretty humbling and honoring to receive the notification and honor like this," said Sergeant Ken Havlin of the Michigan City Police Department. 

Sergeant Havlin was one of five officers who received awards, along with Officer James Bradberry of the Coast Guard Station in Michigan City, Officer Troy Cardenas of the Coast Guard Station in Michigan City, Officer Ryan Vanderlugt of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and Officer Alex Toth of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

"We feel blessed to be able to work with the communities here and serve the people here in this region, it's a great place to do Coast Guard work and it's a great place to work with our partners in the communities here on the water," said Captain Tom Stuhlreyer, the Sector Commander for Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan.