The Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club (BiscayneBayKiwanis.org), one of South Florida’s most active community service organizations, will honor one of the City of Miami’s finest as its Police Officer of The Year during a special luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Casa Juancho Restaurant, 2436 SW Eighth St.
Tickets to the luncheon, which begins at noon, are $30.
Each quarter, the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis honors an Officer of The Quarter at one of the club’s regular Wednesday luncheons and then at the end of the year a winner is selected and honored as part of the club’s annual Citizen of the Year gala. This year, however, the club decided to have a separate luncheon to honor the officer.
“Because the focus at the gala [set for Apr. 28, 2018] is primarily on our Michael Shores Citizen of the Year honoree, we felt a separate lunch for these heroic first responders was a more fitting way of honoring our Police Officer of the Year,” said Miami attorney Carmen Calzon, who was recently elected president of the club. “Especially in today’s politically charged climate, we felt it was important to recognize these fine law enforcement officers.”
The four quarterly winners, nominated by their commanding officers, are:
Lt. Lazaro Alfonso — Alfonso, with the Public Information Office/ Community Relations Section, was a “Secret Santa,” delivering gift cards to families in the Overtown area when he noticed a vehicle slowly approaching females. Recognizing the description of the vehicle and driver from BOLOs about a male committing several armed robberies in the area, Alfonso investigated, notified the Robbery Unit and the suspect was apprehended. The suspect was later linked to several City of Miami cases involving aggravated kidnapping with a weapon and several other charges.
Detectives Felix Del Rosario and Quinn John — This team of detectives worked tirelessly in solving a variety of high profile cases, including several armed robberies — which they were able to eventually link to an attempted murder case — to earn Del Rosario and John the second quarterly honor.
Officer Sherrill Miller — Showing extreme diligence, Officer Miller was able to apprehend several dangerous criminals to earn her the third Officer of the Quarter award. In July alone, Miller, in addition to capturing burglars, thieves, armed robbers and carjackers, also apprehended a homicide offender.
Officer Richard Rios — The 2017 fourth quarter winner, who is well respected in his patrol area, risked his own life to climb a crane in downtown Miami and convince a mentally disturbed man — who had chained himself to the crane — to surrender.
Since its founding in 1950, the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club — an all-volunteer service organization of professional men and women based in Downtown Miami — has improved the lives of disadvantaged children in Overtown, Allapattah, and Midtown Miami through educational programs, field trips, and hands on service projects.
The 67-year-old club’s very successful programs include an in-school reading program to help second graders pass the EOY (End of Year) Exam, funding of summer swim lessons, lessons in etiquette, civics, and life skills, Thanksgiving meal giveaways to inner city families, and guided tours/field trips to Everglades National Park and South Florida museums.
During the past six years the BBKC has awarded more than $180,000 in scholarships throughout Miami-Dade County, including full four-year college scholarships to deserving Booker T. Washington High School seniors.
For tickets or more information about the luncheon, contact the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis by phone or text at 305-814-2225.
