MCSO Deputy and Employee of the Month

BRADENTON – Deputy Joseph Scott rescued a drowning child while off-duty and Kathy Willkens of the Information Technology Section went above and beyond in researching an anonymous caller, providing information that led to an arrest. They are the May MCSO Deputy and Employee of the month.

On April 17, 2013, Deputy Joseph Scott was off-duty at a swimming pool with his neighbors, some of which were children. At some point, someone asked about the whereabouts of one of the children and Deputy Scott immediately found the child floating face down and unresponsive in the pool.

Deputy Scott pulled the child from the pool and began CPR until she regained consciousness. Emergency medical personnel arrived and the child was transported to the hospital expected to make a full recovery. His quick actions saved a child’s life, for which Deputy Joseph Scott is awarded Deputy of the Month for May 2013. 

On April 1, 2013, investigators received a detailed message from an anonymous caller with information on a homicide that could identify the shooter. Detectives contacted Kathy Willkens in the Information Technology Section (IT) and asked her to do research on voice mails that might identify the caller. Kathy was unable to ascertain sufficient call details from voice mail records, but she didn’t stop there. Kathy contacted the County IT and obtained a lengthy list of phone calls received through the County switchboard.

Based on this detailed information, detectives were able to identify the call and contact the caller. The caller agreed to provide a statement to detectives, which led to a suspect being arrested. Her willingness to go one step further provided a break in this investigation that resulted in an arrest, for which Kathy Willkens is awarded Employee of the Month for May 2013.