Grundy County Sheriff's deputies recognized as MADD heroes

On Sept. 23, Grundy County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Greg Butterfield and Aaron Cory were recognized, along with fellow colleagues from around the state of Illinois, by Mothers Against Drunk Driving as a MADD Hero at an award recognition ceremony in Springfield.

This honor, which goes to the top 25 law enforcement officers throughout the state for impaired driving enforcement, was given to the two deputies who were nominated by Sheriff Kevin Callahan this summer.

The two were not strangers to this award. Butterfield has now been a MADD Hero award recipient five times, and Cory celebrated his second nomination.

Butterfield has been at the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office for seven years and has more than 200 DUI arrests under his belt and 5,000 traffic stops just in the past two years. Cory has been with the department for five years, has 100 DUI arrests and 5,000 traffic stops in the past two years, Sgt. Tanya Paquette said.

“I don’t do it [the job] to be recognized, but it was an honor. I know people in MADD and respect what they do,” Cory said. Cory said he always knew he would be in law enforcement because it was the family business. His mom was a dispatcher, his father a detective in Springfield and his uncle was on the Springfield Police Department.

Butterfield said he enjoys the recognition which officers tend to not receive often, and appreciates the event in Springfield, especially the speakers that historically have been parents of impaired driving victims or victims themselves.

“It’s a nice award. Police don’t get many ‘atta boys,’ and it’s nice one time a year to be around cops and not be called to a bar fight or a domestic,” Butterfield said. “How many people say thanks or say you did a good job? It’s usually [is] bad things.”

In order to qualify for the MADD Hero Award, Callahan had to fill out forms and show how the officers supported MADD’s mission in three categories. The categories were efforts to eliminate drunken driving and help to fight drugged driving, efforts in victim support and efforts to prevent underage drinking.

Callahan said this award was a big honor for the men and the department for two reasons. One, it shows that the officers were diligent going out and doing their job, and two, it shows they focused on those who drove impaired.

“It’s a known fact that people die and there are terrible accidents when people drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol. We need to take them off of the road,” Callahan said.

The department has 29 sworn police officers, and Callahan said not everybody makes this many DUI arrests.

“He is actively looking every time he goes to work. Greg doesn’t miss a beat and he’s consistent every year. I truly believe it’s like a mission for him, he became a police officer to protect the innocent people on the roads,” Callahan said of Butterfield.

Callahan said in his nomination letter, “what truly makes Deputy Cory stand out from other officers is his overall dedication to traffic safety. He maintains a consistent passion for impaired driving enforcement, and his overall aggressive traffic enforcement efforts are constant.”

Butterfield said his nervous energy gets him out and about on the county roadways and said if he just drives around, he will find someone who does something stupid. Recently, he was close to a head-on collision with an impaired driver. He has never been called to a fatal DUI crash, but has been called to crashes where he knew the victims, but tries to not take his work home with him.

Cory said one of his first DUI arrests was a fatal crash where four people were in pickup truck, two were killed and two were critically injured.

“Seeing that opened my eyes to what can happen. There was massive damage to the survivors and four lives were ruined over a kid being stupid,” Cory said.

Paquette said both men strive to do better each and every day and have involved themselves in several areas in the department. Both are certified K-9 handlers, both are drug recognition experts and assist with the Explorer program.

“Greg consistently strives to be better and asks for training and any self-improvement he brings back to the department. He’s a perfectionist and is not out to win awards, but out to do his job humbly,” Paquette said.

She said Cory gives all he has to his job every day.

“He has a positive attitude and doesn’t take things personally. His work ethic and positive attitude reflects nicely on our department.”