Heather Pleasant, an administrative assistant assigned to the police department’s patrol division, was presented the SHIELD Award by Chief Shane Guyant during city council’s Tuesday meeting.
The award is one which recognizes a department employee for demonstrating its core values of service, honesty, innovation, excellence, leadership and dedication.
“She is the face of the police department when you come in off 1040 Roanoke Avenue,” Guyant said. “I get so many compliments about how professional she is and how polite she is. If she can’t answer a question she’s going to find somebody that can. She’s not just going to let you walk out of the PD with no question unanswered.”
Part of her job is to run criminal records on people through the Division of Criminal Information records systems, which requires certification. “This is a very sensitive type operation. It involves her having to have a DCI certification and seeing things about people’s past and different things that have occurred in people’s lives and she has to be confidential with that, has to make sure that none of that information gets out, shared out with anybody,” Guyant said.
Pleasant is also a part-time communicator with Halifax 911.”She works her days off there, performing tasks that help the police department.”
The police chief said she always comes to him with suggestions and ideas on how to make the department better. “Her innovative ideas have helped us create the ordinance program we have now. She is kind of in charge of that ordinance program, making sure that everything flows correctly. She’s come to me with some great ideas and she just does an outstanding job with the innovation part of that.”
Pleasant is a single mother, Guyant told the council. “I couldn’t ask for any better human being. She comes to work, she doesn’t call in sick. She doesn’t do anything that would make you think nothing but positive of her. This is not just an outstanding employee, this is an outstanding human being.”
Excellence, the chief said, “Is just the pinnacle of everything we strive to be. What she does in her private life raising her children on her own and providing for them and doing what she has to do as a city employee, I’m just taken aback.”
Pleasant espouses leadership all the time by helping out other coworkers, helping out other folks that work with the department. “She never once lets anybody come to our department and leave empty handed. She makes sure that they get everything that they need.”
She is dedicated to the city, Guyant said. “When she came here I kind of made a job change for her, kind of moved her out of one position to another. I don’t think she was crazy about it but she has sure adapted to it pretty well. She is extremely dedicated to the city of Roanoke Rapids and to our police department. I could not be prouder of Heather and she is very well-deserving of this SHIELD Award.”
