enoch b. morelock award
st. joseph detective honored for service to children, community
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the eighth annual Enoch B. Morelock Award has been presented to Detective Trenny Wilson of the St. Joseph Police Department.
“The impact that this detective has on the community cannot be formally measured; it is too far-reaching,” Phillips said in presenting the award to Wilson. Wilson received the award in recognition of her outstanding moral character and service to law enforcement and the community on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010, at the conclusion of the Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee training seminar being held in Springfield, Mo.
Wilson has been with the St. Joseph Police Department for more than 14 years. She has interviewed over 900 abused children, and assisted in the investigation and prosecution of those cases in a nine-county area.
Phillips read the endorsement of Buchanan County Assistant Prosecutor Pamela Blevins: “This detective has perfected the forensic interviewing skill, that along with the attention to detail and thoroughness, makes her an invaluable asset to the region. This detective consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty to seek justice for the victim.”
“This detective also gives back to the community in so many ways,” Phillips added, “from volunteering at her church, the YWCA and education nurses in the SANE program at the local hospital. She is a frequent speaker at the criminal justice department of the local university, the law enforcement academy and victims’ rights classes. This detective has the talent, integrity, dedication, high standards and heart that others in her workplace strive to obtain.”
Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins describes Wilson to the academy cadets: “This is the example of who you should strive to become in your law enforcement career. You can be mediocre or you can be great like, Det. Trenny Wilson.”
Enoch B. Morelock Award
The Enoch B. Morelock Award recognizes an outstanding law enforcement officer each year during the Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee training seminar. The criteria for the award is outstanding moral character and service to law enforcement and the community.
Enoch B. Morelock was appointed the first sheriff of Sullivan County, Mo., in 1845 and was later killed in the discharge of his duties. Morelock was the first law enforcement officer in recorded history to be killed in the line of duty in the Western District of Missouri. He was in office a little over two years, but he was known to be an honorable, hard-working man intent on protecting the residents of his community.
