Grand Traverse County lifesaving awards target death by suicide in annual ceremony

Feb. 29—TRAVERSE CITY — All three lifesaving awards for 2023 in Grand Traverse County involved first responders who saved people from suicide.

Sheriff Michael Shea presented the awards Wednesday to deputies, sergeants and a dispatcher who prevented the suicides at a residence, in the jail and over the phone.

In the first of the three incidents, deputies went to a residence in Kingsley after a 24-year-old man's wife expressed concern about her husband's well-being.

Deputy Mariah Eberhardt went to the couple's home and tried to enter through the front door. After hearing no response, she looked through a side window and saw a man in distress.

She and deputy John Leach kicked in the locked basement door, began talking to the man while he was still conscious and ultimately saved his life.

Last July 18, a medical emergency alert was called by jail inmates to a specific cell at the jail.

Three deputies — Josh Rhoades, Addison Kennedy and Adam Parent — and two sergeants — Jimmie Wood and Josh Kniss — proceeded to administer lifesaving CPR and doses of Narcan to the inmate. Six minutes later, paramedics arrived. The combined efforts of all the first responders saved the man's life.

The third lifesaving award went to a Grand Traverse County Central Dispatch employee, Michael Harrell, who spoke on the phone with a 19-year-old man who said he was going to harm himself.

The man followed Harrell's instructions on how to get out of that life-threatening situation and where to meet officers, which saved his life.

Wednesday afternoon's gathering was standing-room-only for the annual Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office awards ceremony at the Governmental Center.

Winners included deputies from all departments, including Investigative Services, Corrections and Road Patrol for their roles in conducting child abuse allegations and helping people in pivotal moments during mental health crises.

The awards are selected by a committee of a deputy, lieutenant, sergeant, captain from both the corrections and law enforcement divisions. They provide recommendations to the sheriff, who approves them.

Scott Rector and Nathan Ritter won Employees of the Year awards in the Corrections and Law Enforcement Divisions for their work over the course of their careers.

Ritter is currently a member of their Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He's been with the sheriff's office since 1999, and the task force since 2016.

"For the past 24 years, I've done everything I can to see these investigations through, to give closure for the victims," he said. "I love the fact that being a detective, working high priority cases, seeing the case all the way until the very end, working with victims closely and bringing closure to these cases is what I feel is important to being a detective and a police officer."

Conducting investigations are what first drew Ritter to the law enforcement business in the first place, he said.

"He has received countless letters of praise from citizens, command officers as well as other agencies he has collaborated with," Shea said.

Ritter's wife and daughter were brought into the Commissioner's Chambers on the second floor of the Governmental Center secretly through a side door at the start of the ceremony, so the award would remain a surprise.

Rector spent the past two decades working at the Grand Traverse County Jail.

Some of the incarcerated people he's worked with have said he's played an "important role and has positively impacted their direction in life, and a review of his file revealed several letters of commendation," the sheriff said.

"He is truly an asset."

When community members asked Shea how they can support his deputies and office, he said to thank his staff.

"Each and every one of these men and women deserve an award for what they do on a daily basis, the conditions they work in, the environment they work in, and what they do," he said.

Grand Traverse County Commissioner and Chairman Rob Hentschel said that support was exactly the reason why he left work to attend Wednesday's ceremonies.

"We see some great examples as part of the ceremony of some of the things that our local law enforcement goes to, and I feel it's very important to show them, as the county commission, we have their back," Hentschel said. "We want to make sure they're the best-trained, best-equipped, best-cared-for law enforcement agency in northern Michigan."

If you — or someone you know — needs help, call the National Suicide Hotline at 988.