Exchange Club of Joliet honors pair of police officers
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com February 17, 2012 6:38PM
Joliet Police Chief Michael Trafton presents James Kilgore with one of the Joliet Police Officers of the Year award at Harrah's Casino in Joliet, Illinois, Monday, February, 14, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 20, 2012 8:07AM
JOLIET — Kyle Bledsoe and James Kilgore are cops for the same reasons.
“It’s rare to find a career where you love going into work every day, but I have,” Kilgore said. “And to find a partner on the same page as you is kind of like a work of art. It works like a well-oiled machine.”
On Tuesday, the Exchange Club of Joliet recognized the machine parts as Police Officers of the Year during a luncheon at Harrah’s Casino.
Kilgore has been a police officer for six years, Bledsoe for five. The two are partners on patrol during the night shift on the southeast side.
In 2011, they responded to more than 1,200 calls for police service, making more than 300 arrests and issuing 320 moving citations.
“Both of them have displayed incredible work ethic and utilized a variety of innovative methods to curtail crime in their assigned area,” Chief Mike Trafton said.
When violence and nuisance calls increased in the Henry and Hobbs area, the pair began aggressive parking enforcement, walking foot patrols and traffic stops.
“They led the department in vehicle tows, drug arrests and gun arrests. Very impressive for young officers,” Trafton said.
“There’s nothing more exciting than getting drugs and guns off the street in an area where police support may not be great, but I hope (our work there) has changed some minds a little bit,” Bledsoe said.
Trafton and several other officers said the obvious “passion” Kilgore and Bledsoe show for the job has inspired them and the recognition is well-deserved.
Kilgore said being named an Officer of the Year was an honor, but “just being able to actively police the neighborhoods I grew up in means a lot to me.”
And no one really expects the award to be the highlight of their lives for long.
Kilgore and his wife, Tina, are expecting their second child in two weeks, while Bledsoe will marry his fiancee, Tamie, next month.
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