Officer Stan Penrod, Syracuse Police Department
Aug 1, 2016, 2:22 PM | Updated: Aug 4, 2022, 11:10 am
The following nomination letter was written by Lieutenant Heath Rogers of the Syracuse Police Department:
Officer Stan Penrod teaches DARE in all of the Elementary Schools in Syracuse. Officer Penrod’s passion for helping youth and his teaching style are well known within the DARE community. The quality of his program is so well known that DAR UTAH requested that he serve as an instructor and mentor on the State team that teaches new DARE officers. Officer Penrod has been a keynote speaker as part of his partnership with DARE UTAH at graduation ceremonies for newly trained DARE officers.
Officer Penrod seeks out “at risk” youth in our community and works diligently to build relationships and trust with them. Officer Penrod has a unique way of working with these “at risk” youth. Officer Penrod often stops by to personally visit with them at their school and home, just to see how they are doing and to find out if there is anything he can do to help them be successful. Officer Penrod builds lasting bonds with these youth who often feel abandoned by the school system, friends, and sometimes their own parents and family. Teachers have commented on what a huge difference they see in a youth’s attitude when Officer Penrod mentors them.
Officer Penrod is so respected and looked up to by the youth in Syracuse that a large following of his DARE students and their parents attended this year’s Guns and Hoses charity game. Many brought handmade posters clearly showing their love and appreciation for Officer Penrod.
On January 23, 2014, at approximately 5:00 pm, Officer Penrod responded to a report of a child who had fallen through the ice at Jensen Pond. When Officer Penrod arrived he noticed the young boy struggling in the water. Officer Penrod grabbed a rope from his vehicle and threw it to the boy, but unfortunately the rope was too short. Officer Penrod stepped out on the
ice in an attempt to get closer to the boy. The ice was not strong enough to support Officer Penrod and he fell into the freezing water. With some help from several bystanders, Officer Penrod was able to grab the boy and safely pull him to shore. Because of Officer Penrod’s heroic actions, by risking his own safety, a tragic outcome was avoided.
Officer Penrod has spent numerous hours over the years coaching youth in baseball, football, and wrestling. Officer Penrod spent six years as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at Legacy Junior High in Layton. Officer Penrod is currently the head wrestling coach at Syracuse Junior High.
Officer Penrod has created a DARE TO BE GREAT Facebook page, which has many pictures of him going above and beyond his duty as he interacts with the youth in our community. Officer Penrod receives positive comments on this page due to the high level of respect that he has earned in the Syracuse Community with his work as the DARE Officer along with the other youth mentoring in which he is actively involved.
