Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd recently received Illinois’ 2015 Law Enforcement Executive of the Year Award, an honor issued annually to professionals demonstrating innovation, progressiveness and independence in Waukegan.
“This is an honor because of the organization; it’s the Illinois Association of Law Enforcement Executives…an organization that helps police departments throughout the local areas of Illinois,” Rudd said.
Describing the St. Charles-based Illinois Association of Law Enforcement Executives (IALEE), Rudd explained that “it’s basically a teaching institution,” which strives to recognize professionals in the field. “They recognize the people in law enforcement who are doing a good job, and we don’t do enough of that. I think we do need to recognize those people that do a good job—not just me, but anybody else.”
In his acceptance speech, Rudd emphasized the need to continue expressing appreciation for law enforcement officials, highlighting the current mood in society as an “us versus them” mentality or law enforcement versus the community.
“We need to recognize people who are doing a good job in finding and correcting the problems that we have,” Rudd said. “Actually I’m a little embarrassed by it because…I come from an era where you were taught or told to do something and you’re expected to do it; you’re not supposed to be praised for it or expect praise. But I’m very happy I got it.”
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