O’Neal recognized as Officer of the Year by Mt. Hiram Lodge

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press 

Mt. Hiram Lodge No. 595 recognized Lt. Steve O’Neal, awarding him with the lodge’s highest honor for an officer, the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, at its 43rd annual Respect for the Rule of Law banquet held Tuesday evening at Grace United Methodist Church.
The banquet is held each year to honor and recognize members of local law enforcement agencies. The award is given based on nominations from the law enforcement community. City of Copperas Cove municipal court judge and Justice of the Peace for precinct 1, F. W. “Bill” Price served as the master of ceremonies for the banquet. 
Members of the Copperas Cove Police Department and their families joined members of the Mt. Hiram Masonic Lodge #595 for a meal catered by Cracker Barrel before the identity of this year’s recipient was revealed.
Price read aloud part of the nomination letter, submitted by Deputy Chief Brian Wyers. Lt. Steven O’Neal has been a member of the Copperas Cove Police Department since October 4, 1999. He has worked his way from patrol officer to detective to patrol supervisor to organized crime investigator and currently serves as the lieutenant of Criminal Investigations. During his tenure in this position, O’Neal “faced two issues that could have grown rapidly throughout the city,” Price said. These issues were a massage parlor suspected of human trafficking and a large influx of gambling institutions, often posing as gaming rooms. 
“Both issues proved to be labor intensive and Lt. O’Neal dedicated countless hours to these investigations,” Price said. 
The massage parlor investigation uncovered a larger scaled operation that ended up involving the help of Killeen Police Department, the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office, Georgetown Police Department, Temple Police Department, the Attorney General’s Office, DPS, ICE, Coryell County District Attorney’s Office, Waco Police Department and Austin Police Department. 
Each jurisdiction executed warrants simultaneously, and O’Neal ran the sting for the Copperas Cove Police Department, Price said. 
Regarding the gambling institutions, O’Neal led the investigation into the laws surrounding the issue and crafted the ordinance regulating the operations of the game rooms inside city limits, which was approved by the city attorney’s office and eventually adopted by the city council. 
“These are just two examples of the dedication and professionalism Lt. O’Neal has displayed while representing the Copperas Cove Police Department,” Price read from the nomination letter. 
O’Neal has also received the Best Instructor Award from the Central Texas College Police Academy for one or both day and night classes since 2014. He is also very active in his church and was recently selected to take on the role of a deacon. 
“’His professionalism, compassion and dedication make him the perfect candidate to receive this award,’ and the committee agreed,” Price said. 
After accepting the award, O’Neal addressed the crowd. 
“I’m humbled by this recognition. I work with so many fantastic folks for the last 20 years,” O’Neal said. “From great leaders to great officers and detectives that work for me to friends and you have honored me immensely by this award. I don’t know that I deserve it but I do greatly and humbly thank you for your recognition this evening and I pray that everything that I do, that God is glorified in what I do.”
City Manager Ryan Haverlah served as the guest speaker for the evening. He shared great things about the Copperas Cove Police Department and said that they are proactive in what they do and how they do it. 
“They don’t just sit around and wait for the crime,” Haverlah said. “They’re out in the neighborhood. That’s why they started the community policing efforts because they want to know what’s going on. They develop relationships with our residents so that they can help themselves.”
Haverlah encouraged the community to support its local law enforcement. He shared an experience where one of his sons showed fear of police officers, which impacted him. 
This fear of law enforcement was shown in the media, on social media and in video games, he said. 
“I’ve learned that as a society, we’re going to have to retrain ourselves, retrain our children, our grandchildren to respect law enforcement,” Haverlah said. “They’re here to respect us. They’re here to keep us safe; they’re here to keep the peace.”
Haverlah said that law enforcement had been called “tainted” on a national level, but that law enforcement agencies in every community were trying to make a difference, even when people don’t want them to.
“I’ve got to tell you, your police department, our police department, is not that national stage,” Haverlah said. “We’re not at that level. We’re heads and tails above it. I hope that any time you see a police officer that you thank them for their service they do, because they’ve committed to this life.”
Haverlah went on to call the Copperas Cove Police Department “the best” in the region. 
He encouraged people to “stretch your comfort where you’re at,” and talk about the CCPD and the good things they are doing for the community.