Plano police honor 11 employees at annual awards ceremony

Plano police recognized 11 officers and civilian employees at its 51st Annual Awards ceremony, with Officer Ian Austin receiving the Medal of Valor and Officer Natasha Mings named Patrol Officer of the Year for work during 2025.

The department’s list of honorees showed how broad public safety work can be. Detective Catherine Foreman was named Support Services Officer of the Year, Sergeant Courtney Atkins earned Sworn Supervisor of the Year, Quartermaster Supervisor Bill Breneman was selected as Civilian Supervisor of the Year, Public Safety Officer Talina Osborne was honored as Civilian of the Year, and Officer Owen Simpson was named Rookie of the Year. Officer Scott Williams was recognized for Excellence in Problem Solving, while Officer Aaron White was singled out for a life-saving action that had already been previously awarded.

Plano also used the ceremony to recognize the people who support police work away from the spotlight. Community volunteers and partners Rick Bush and Bill Werner were honored alongside the officers and civilian staff, a reminder that patrol, records, logistics and volunteer support all feed into the department’s day-to-day performance. In a department that measures success by more than arrests or response times, the award categories pointed to the range of tasks residents rarely see but rely on when emergencies hit.

That balance between sworn officers and civilian personnel matters in practical terms. Plano police have said their Public Safety Officer unit, made up entirely of civilian employees, handled 25% of all calls for service in 2025. That statistic helps explain why awards for civilian leadership and civilian service are more than ceremonial; they reflect a part of the department that carries a substantial share of the workload.

The 51st annual ceremony also underscored how long Plano has used the awards program to define and reward performance. The count suggests the tradition began around 1975, and the department hosted its 50th Annual Police Awards Banquet on April 11, 2025. Plano police have also been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies since 1992, adding another layer of institutional emphasis on standards, accountability and recognition.

Taken together, the honorees showed how Plano police want the public to see success: not just in dramatic rescues or major arrests, but in the quieter work that keeps neighborhoods functioning, calls answered and residents safer.