Twp. officer receives nat'l recognition Patrolman leads drunk driving prevention program BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer l-r: Accompanied by Middletown Township Police Chief Robert Oches, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger presents a special citation to Patrolman James Roese, who was recognized by a national publication for his work with the township's drunken-driving education program for high school students. MIDDLETOWN - Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger has remarked that wherever he goes to speak around Middletown, he sees Patrolman James Roese. "I feel like there are four Jim Roeses," Scharfenberger said. "He seems to show up everywhere." So it made sense that at the Township Committee meeting on Monday, Nov. 19, Scharfenberger saw that the Middletown police officer was there, but not just there as a face in the crowd or to lead a program on safe driving. At the meeting, Roese received a special citation read by the mayor that was awarded by Parade magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Roese, 46, was singled out for an Honorable Mention in "To Protect and Serve," the national magazine's 2007 Police Officer of the Year feature published Oct. 21. "After barely surviving a 1993 collision involving a driver under the influence of alcohol, Patrolman Roese devoted his career to combating DWI," the article on Parade's Web site reads. "In addition to making more than 300 arrests, he leads the 'Rude Awakening' program to educate high school students about the devastating consequences of drinking and driving. Since Roese took the helm in 2001, there have been no prom-night fatalities in Middletown." "Jim Roese is one of the crown jewels of the entire [police] staff in Middletown," Scharfenberger said. "He has a heart as big as all outdoors." Roese has been a member of the Middletown Police Department for almost 15 years and has been best known for his work with the "Rude Awakening" program, a series of awareness events focused on drunken driving. "There are hundreds of people that helped to make that program the success that it is," Roese said. "The program has a long list of people that have brought the program to where it is today." The program set up to teach high school students the dangers of drinking and driving was started in 1994 by the Middletown EMS. At the time, the program consisted of two cars colliding into each other at full speed on the field at High School North. In 2001, Roese joined the program and wanted it to have a much larger impact on students. Roese listed the township's purchase of 18 speakers, golf carts, child restraint simulators and Fatal Vision Goggles as ways that the program has expanded. The goggles are worn by a student driving a golf cart around a coned-off area. They impair the driver and simulate the vision of someone who is intoxicated. The program has been recognized as one of the most successful in the country and there has not been a drinking and driving accident on prom weekends since Roese joined the program, according to the Middletown Police Department Web site. "I have received calls from across the state about this program," Police Chief Robert Oches said. "It has become something special." Roese traveled to New Orleans on Oct. 6 to receive a plaque from Parade magazine and was joined on the trip by Oches. Oches said he is gratified by the growth of the "Rude Awakening" program. "I think Jim would tell you that it's just not his efforts that have made the program a success," Oches said. "The countless work and effort that people have put into it are something to be commended." Oches said that when an officer enters his 15th year on the police force, he receives the rank of corporal. With Roese being a few months away from year number 15, Oches made an exception and gave him his new rank and badge at the meeting, which came as a surprise to Roese who appreciated the recognition. "I'm proud to be a police officer in Middletown," Roese said. "And now I'm proud to be a corporal."