SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES GIVEN RUOPP, COPELAND AWARDS

Former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman Copeland presented his Excellence Awards Wednesday. From left, Matt Seyer, Copeland, Cheryl Robb-Welch and Annette Werner.

A Cape Girardeau County deputy, who was in on Tuesday's capture of a St. Louis man wanted in a Southeast Missouri manhunt, has been presented the county's highest award for a law enforcement officer -- the Timothy J. Ruopp Award.

Officer Ron Eakins of the Cape Girardeau County sheriff's office was presented the award Wednesday by Ruopp's 18-year-old son, Nathan, in recognition of Eakins' overall excellence as a law enforcement officer.

In announcing the award, Sheriff John Jordan held up a copy of the morning's Southeast Missourian, which showed a picture of Eakins and Scott City police officer Janice Payne taking Hezekiah Smith into custody after a two-day manhunt. Jordan said that Eakins responded immediately when Smith was spotted and described Eakins' participation in Smith's apprehension as typical of the work of Eakins.

"He was there in the thick of things," Jordan said later.

The award, which has been presented annually since 1984 to the outstanding officer of the year, is given in honor of Timothy Ruopp, a former deputy of the department who was killed in the line of duty in San Diego.

Eakins accepted the award from Ruopp's son and father, Dr. Dudley Ruopp. Ruopp's widow, daughters and mother were also in attendance. Then, with a voice that cracked with emotion, Eakins thanked the Ruopp family and his colleagues.

"I can't do it by myself. It takes the whole sheriff's department," he said.

Also honored Wednesday were the recipients of this year's Copeland Excellence Awards, given to an employee from each division of the sheriff's department who has demonstrated a striving for excellence. This year's Copeland award winners were officer Cheryl Robb-Welch for field operations, computer analyst Annette Werner for business operations and jail officer Matt Seyer for jail operations.

The awards were named for and given in honor of former Cape Girardeau County sheriff Norman Copeland. Sheriff Copeland presented the awards to this year's recipients.

The four awards were presented Wednesday as a part of National Law Enforcement Month.

Introducing the Ruopp award, Jordan reminded his deputies and family members of Ruopp that the life of a law enforcement officer is a life lived daily on a subtle edge with the constant threat that at any moment his life may be taken.

"Every day in America the men and women of law enforcement don their uniforms, strap on their guns and go off to work into the most volatile of situations, into the world of human emotions," Jordan said.

Then quoting the beatitude which says, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God," Jordan called Ruopp a brave peacemaker who did not return home.

Ruopp was shot and killed during what his widow Kathleen Ruopp called "a routine stop that went bad." While he and his partner, officer Kimberly Tonahill, were issuing misdemeanor citations to two men who had supplied alcohol to minors, one of the men drew a weapon and shot both officers.

Ruopp, who had served for two years in the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, moved to San Diego in the early 1980s and became a police officer for the city. He had served on the police force for two and a half years before he was killed.

For Kathleen Ruopp, the day was a reminder not only of the loss of her husband but also of her brother, Tom Riggs. Riggs, who was also an officer with the San Diego police department, was shot and killed in the line of duty six months after Ruopp's death.