Seven Retiring Police Officers Honored and Celebrated Share

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A spe­cial cel­e­bra­tion was held yes­ter­day by the Mar­i­on Police Dept. to hon­or­ably con­grat­u­late sev­en retir­ing police offi­cers and wish them well in their future endeavors.

William (Bill) Alter was hired in 1988. He served on the JEAN Team for one year, and is most known for his long­time role as the Police Ath­let­ic League (PAL) Club Direc­tor. He said he has enjoyed being able to run the club and work­ing with the kids. Alter will con­tin­ue in his role as a civil­ian employee.

Sgt. War­land Artis (not pic­tured) has also been with MPD since 1988. He was not present for the cer­e­mo­ny as he has moved to Flori­da. Deputy Chief Stephen Dorsey said he is enjoy­ing retire­ment with his wife and family.

Ofc. Gary Hen­der­son has been with MPD since 1990. He enjoyed work­ing with the youth, par­tic­u­lar­ly as DARE offi­cer. Hen­der­son says his retire­ment is bit­ter­sweet as he will miss every­one, but is ready to move on. He is explor­ing future endeavors. 

Sgt. David Day was hired in 1993. ​“D‑Day” said his career has over­all been a great expe­ri­ence, espe­cial­ly get­ting to know peo­ple. Day co-found­ed ​“Shop with a Cop” day of ser­vice and giv­ing for under­priv­i­leged fam­i­lies. He has enjoyed help­ing oth­ers, espe­cial­ly chil­dren. Day has accept­ed a clery com­pli­ance posi­tion with Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Police.

Capt. Robin Young has been with MPD since 1993. Young expressed grat­i­fi­ca­tion on get­ting to inves­ti­gate major cas­es for the past 24 ½ years, and sat­is­fac­tion of being able to put away mur­der­ers, rapists and more, in order to make the com­mu­ni­ty safer. Young is not tak­ing on any oth­er employ­ment as he plans to ful­ly enjoy retirement. 

Ofc. Kent Wil­son joined MPD in 1996. Wil­son reflect­ed on appre­hend­ing a mur­der sus­pect in 2003, and get­ting to assist in the after­math of Hur­ri­cane Kat­ri­na in 2005. In Novem­ber of last year, Wil­son was involved in a near life-threat­en­ing off-duty car acci­dent, hav­ing only suf­fered head trau­ma from seri­ous impact. Wil­son recent­ly accept­ed a fed­er­al secu­ri­ty posi­tion in Fort Wayne.

Lt. James Loftin has been with MPD since 1997. Loftin expressed appre­ci­a­tion for his fel­low offi­cers and those who had his back over the years. He reflect­ed get­ting shot at dur­ing a pur­suit fol­low­ing an armed rob­bery and expressed thanks to the offi­cers who helped appre­hend the sus­pect. Loftin has tak­en on a job in the pri­vate sec­tor for an insur­ance company.

Each offi­cer was giv­en ser­vice plaques and retire­ment badges pre­sent­ed by Capt. Stephen Dorsey. Dur­ing each pre­sen­ta­tion, each offi­cer shared high­lights and anec­dotes from their time on the depart­ment includ­ing heart-break­ing sto­ries, life-threat­en­ing inci­dents, and expres­sions of appre­ci­a­tion for their fel­low offi­cers who sup­port­ed them dur­ing dire moments. 

Police Chief Ang­ie Haley added that Ofc. Jeff Tom­lin­son also retired ear­li­er last year. He had been with MPD since 1998. Tom­lin­son want­ed a pri­vate and qui­et send-off. He is also work­ing for an insur­ance firm.

“A lot of great men, a lot of great years, and a lot of great cas­es,” reflect­ed Chief Haley. ​“They have all pro­vid­ed such great ser­vice to this community.”

The retir­ing offi­cers who served at least 25 years were per­son­al­ly pre­sent­ed with an Amer­i­can flag by May­or Jess Alum­baugh and Chief of Staff Mike Flynn.