The Anti-Defamation League of Missouri and Southern Illinois will honor two law enforcement officers with the ADL’s 2016 Distinguished Service Awards during a ceremony Dec. 9. 

ADL will recognize Detective Joseph T. Cichacki of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and Trooper Darrin R. Haslag of the Missouri State Highway Patrol during a ceremony from 8 to 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 9 at a breakfast at the Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Blvd.  Former police officer and comedian Mike Armstrong will also offer his unique take on today’s policing at the event.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes regional law enforcement representatives who distinguish themselves in the investigation and/or prosecution of hate crime, bias, domestic or international terrorism, or in the protection of civil rights. Cichacki was nominated for outstanding service in the protection of Central Reform Congregation, a synagogue under significant and consistent anti-Semitism and harassment from August 2014 as a result of activity on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Haslag was nominated for outstanding service in the course of an exhaustive three-year investigation beginning in 2013 with the sexual assault and exploitation of multiple female victims by two defendants, one of whom was a law enforcement officer.

“ADL recognizes that law enforcement not only plays a crucial role in keeping this region safe, it protects democracy for all,” said Karen Aroesty, Regional Director of the ADL.  “With the Distinguished Service Awards, ADL honors those officers who go above and beyond in serving our most vulnerable.”

For information and tickets (tickets are $35, free for law enforcement officers), visit http://bit.ly/ADL-2016-Awards.