PORTLAND, Maine — The Portland Police Department held its annual awards ceremony at Ocean Gateway, handing out dozens of commendations to officers, civilian staff, and partner agencies as the department highlighted what it called “outstanding service, professionalism, and dedication” among its ranks.
Police said the department presented 13 Distinguished Unit Commendations and five Life-Saving Awards, along with additional honors recognizing performance, teamwork, and commitment to the community. The annual ceremony, the department said, is intended to formally recognize efforts ranging from critical incident response to day-to-day work in the city.
Detective Garrick Rogers was named the Portland Police Department’s 2025 Officer of the Year. Rogers joined the force in 2019 and was selected as Officer of the Month for April 2025. The department noted Rogers is a second-generation Portland police officer, saying his father was named PPD Officer of the Year in 1994.
Police said Rogers worked in the Patrol Division until his promotion to detective in late 2025, and described him as setting a high standard for himself and serving as an example for other officers. The department also said Rogers volunteered to work overtime in the Crime Reduction Unit and later, after being assigned permanently to the Criminal Investigations Division in December, was given complex investigations.
Behavioral Health Coordinator Bridgit Sliwak received the department’s 2025 Civilian of the Year award. Sliwak joined the department in December 2023, and police said she made an “immediate impact” as the Behavioral Health Unit expanded. The department credited her with helping build the program into a six-person staff that conducts both co-response and alternative response.
Portland police also highlighted the department’s focus on mental and behavioral health co-responses, saying it was among the original seven police departments nationwide selected as a Learning Site from the Council of State Governments for mental health co-response. The department said that work continues through the Behavioral Health Unit and under Sliwak’s leadership, including training requests and feedback the unit receives.
Police said one of Sliwak’s contributions has been her vision for Mental Health First Aid training the unit now offers citywide, describing it as a way to build a more informed community and support multiple city agencies responding to mental health emergencies.
Detective Sgt. Jeff Calloway received the 2025 Wallace Award, named for former Sgt. Michael J. Wallace, who the department said was committed to training and officer development.
Calloway began his career in April 1998 and quickly became a Field Training Officer, the department said. In 2005, he began working as a Special Agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. He returned to the Portland Police Department in July 2011 and was placed on the inaugural Crime Reduction Unit, which the department said works with patrol, the Criminal Investigations Division, and federal partners including the FBI, DEA, and ATF on serious crimes.
Police said COVID-19 and staffing shortages limited the unit’s capabilities in recent years, but that Calloway developed patrol officers with no prior experience in plainclothes street investigations into what the department described as a “cadre of proficient and motivated investigators.”
The department congratulated the recipients and thanked them for their service to the community.
