Local native honored for Ohio policework
A Fayette County native is receiving national honors for his work with the Youngstown, Ohio, police department. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund has named Frank Rutherford, 28, who grew up in East Millsboro, officer of the month for March 2005. Official recognition will come in May 2006, during National Police Week in Washington, D.C.
Rutherford said he didn’t know he had been selected for the honor until June.
“I feel odd getting this. Just this summer, we had three or four guys in shooting incidents,” Rutherford said. “We have so many guys in our department who go unrecognized. Any of them could have been honored like that.”
According to Bruce Mendelsohn of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, that is not an unusual reaction among the recipients.
“Usually, if you ask these guys, they’ll say they were just doing their jobs. In the course of doing their jobs, they do amazing things,” Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn said the selection process is rigorous, with the selection committee evaluating applications submitted throughout the year from all over the country.
Rutherford is being recognized for his outstanding work leading to numerous drug arrests, as well as other incidents over the past five years that he has worked with the Youngstown Police Department.
Youngstown has a population of about 80,000, and the police department receives more than 100,000 calls a year, Rutherford said. There are about 190 officers in the police department, though the normal compliment is 225.
“My sergeant wrote it up. I never thought I’d get it. I figured it would be someone from Los Angeles or some place big,” Rutherford said. Rutherford was raised by his paternal grandparents, Mildred and the late Harry Rutherford of East Millsboro. He was graduated from Brownsville Area High School in 1995, and despite being on a football team with an 0-10 record his senior year, managed to get a full football scholarship to Temple.
“I made tapes and sent them out to schools,” Rutherford said.
He played football at Temple for two years before transferring to Youngstown State University, also on a full scholarship. The team won the Division 1 AA national championship in 1997 and Rutherford was named the Big MAC offensive lineman of the year in 1998. The Youngstown team placed second in the nation during 1999, Rutherford’s senior year.
Rutherford’s achievements as an individual and as a team player have extended into his police work.
“He stands out because of what he does as a total police officer,” said Sgt. Zaida Miranda, the officer who nominated Rutherford for the national honor.
Rutherford’s nomination details one of his major accomplishments.
“In March 2001 Officer Rutherford volunteered to go undercover for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Washington Field Division, to investigate illegal criminal behavior taking place within the Warlocks Motorcycle Club, an outlaw motorcycle gang. His mission was to support the ATF undercover agents that had already infiltrated the club and gather as much information as possible about the club members and their illicit activities,” Miranda wrote in the nomination.
“He was able to gather an outstanding amount of information. The members wanted him to be part of the gang, that’s how successful he was,” Miranda said.
According to the nomination, the investigation into the motorcycle gang “involving 300 officers across five states, resulted in 34 arrest warrants, 47 federal search warrants and the confiscation of over 120 firearms. In addition, body armor, $25,000 in currency and significant amounts of powder cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana were uncovered. The sting also identified club members that were previously unknown to law enforcement.”
“Frank was also involved in investigating the case of two young girls who were raped,” Miranda said. “The suspect was there and had been beaten by family members. Officer Rutherford was able to gain his confidence and got a confession from him. He is now facing life sentences.”
Miranda said Rutherford is also a compassionate person, involved in community service work.
“He’s well-rounded. He’s aggressive on crime, yet he cares about people. He’s just a good person. He’s not just putting people in jail, he cares about the community,” Miranda said.
Miranda said that when an elderly Youngstown woman was beaten and robbed, Rutherford and his partner searched relentlessly for the suspect between other calls during their shift, arresting the suspect with evidence linking him to the crime just hours after it occurred.
“I idolize him,” Miranda said. “I’ve been on the job 20 years and he really gets along well in the community and with his fellow officers. He’s very thorough and very professional. I wish we had 100 Rutherfords. He’s a hard worker and he cares about people.”