The Washtenaw 100, a regional charitable organization, has named Deputy James Roy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office as the area’s Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for 2021.
Deputy Roy’s award recognizes his 14 years with the Sheriff’s Office in roles including road patrol, neighborhood law enforcement, community action, and training.
“Jim Roy is a cornerstone of our office,” said WCSO Sergeant Jesse Beever, who formally nominated Deputy Roy for the award. “He’s our most veteran training officer. This has been especially important because we’ve recently experienced significant attrition through retirement. In the last six-plus years, Deputy Roy has trained 37 recruit deputies. That’s more than the total staffing of most police agencies within the county.”
Deputy Roy provides training for recruits and veteran officers alike. Areas of instruction include patrol rifle, defensive tactics, implicit biases, tactical social interaction, verbal de-escalation, and many others. He specializes in mental health crisis intervention. Per Sergeant Beever, “Jim’s approach to pointing people in crisis to the treatment they need is inspiring and can serve as a model for all officers to follow. In fact, Community Mental Health of Washtenaw Health has requested Jim’s help in handling crises.”
Deputy Roy currently serves on the Policy Steering Committee for the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion and Deflection (LEADD) Program, a collaborative effort of WCSO, Community Mental Health, and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. LEADD helps people with mental health needs who have committed low-level offenses, and aims to find them treatment rather than place them into the criminal justice system.
Deputy Roy also serves as WCSO’s liaison to MILO, a provider of virtual police training tools. He advises MILO on the accuracy and effectiveness of their scenarios for dealing with people requiring treatment.
“Jim is a proactive leader our officers look to when solving complex issues,” said Sergeant Beever. “He takes initiative while consistently treating others with dignity and respect. We can thank Jim for molding our recruits into the kinds of deputies I’d be proud to have protect and take care of my own loved ones if they were in need.”
About The Washtenaw 100
In September 1971, a small group of Ann Arbor-area community leaders formed The Washtenaw 100, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
Over the years, The Washtenaw 100 has expanded its mission to also include: college scholarships for children of police and firefighting professionals; grants to police and fire departments for needed safety equipment and training; and annual awards to the county’s most distinguished law enforcement officers and firefighters.
Originally, The Washtenaw 100 operated anonymously. Membership was by private invitation only, it was limited to approximately 100 members (hence the name), and the organization sought no public recognition for its efforts.
Today, The Washtenaw 100 invites all in the community to join. Members’ annual fees and individual donations enable the organization to continue supporting our area’s sworn uniformed officers and their families, who give bravely and selflessly for the safety and security of the community.
In the past five decades, The Washtenaw 100 has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in needed assistance to the area’s public safety officers and their departments.
The Washtenaw 100 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization exempt from federal tax. Members’ annual fees and donations may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
More information is available from The Washtenaw 100 at P.O. Box 1204, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Email: info@washtenaw100.org. Web: www.washtenaw100.org.
