City officer to get national award

By Patricia Meade

The officer risked his own safety to save a suicidal man and others.

YOUNGSTOWN — Patrolman Rick Baldwin is the only police officer in Ohio to receive a 2008 Top Cop honorable mention award.

Each year, an independent awards committee sifts through hundreds of nominations for the National Association of Police Organizations and chooses one case from each state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia. From those cases, 10 officers, deputy sheriffs, troopers or federal agents become Top Cops and the remaining are designated as honorable mention winners.

Baldwin, 53, was chosen to win the award for Ohio after being nominated by his supervisor, Detective Sgt. Zaida Miranda. He has been with the Youngstown Police Department since September 1986.

Baldwin said he’s honored to receive the award. He said his wife, Miranda, and Patrolman Ed Colon, union president, will travel to Washington, D.C., for the awards ceremony May 12.

In March 2007, Baldwin responded to a suicide-hostage call on the West Side. The officer walked into a tense and potentially lethal family drama.

Baldwin said the husband held a 9 mm gun to his head, threatening to shoot himself. The man’s wife was nearby in the kitchen, crying, and their small child was in an adjacent room.

“I talked him out of it, persuaded him to put the gun down,” Baldwin said. “I said ‘Why do you want to do this in front of your wife?’”

Miranda said Baldwin, who arrived on the scene by himself, risked his own safety by going into the house alone. She said what Baldwin did was “dangerous and courageous.”

Out of concern for others in the house, Baldwin felt he had to act immediately, Miranda said. Typically, a tactical team is called out for situations such as Baldwin encountered with a suicidal man barricaded in a house with a gun, she said.

“The guy was depressed, he could have shot his family and the officer and then turned the gun on himself,” Miranda said. “Rick used his verbal skills to gain the man’s confidence and was able to defuse the situation. He deserves the award.”

The awards ceremony in Washington kicks off National Police Week. Recipients will be called on stage at the Warner Theatre to accept their awards from celebrity presenters.

Miranda said after the awards ceremony, they’ll be able to meet the celebrities and VIPs.

The 21-member celebrity committee includes Richard Belzer from “Law Order: Special Victims Unit,” NBC; Bill Kurtis from “American Justice,” “Cold Case Files” and “Investigative Reports,” A E; Jimmy Smits of “NYPD Blue,” ABC; John Walsh from “America’s Most Wanted,” Fox; and author Joseph Wambaugh.

The purpose of Top Cops is to educate the public about the nation’s heroes and pay tribute to law enforcement officers from federal, state, county and local agencies for outstanding service to their communities, according to NAPO Web site. NAPO is a coalition of more than 2,000 police units and associations representing 238,000 rank-and-file law enforcement officers.

meade@vindy.com