OPOC Award Winner is, SHANE MONNIG
Nominated by Joe Monahan. Selected by Vaughan Garrett & Kevin Schoch:
I am nominating Detective Sergeant Shane Monnig, who began playing in the police softball circuit in 2012 with the Missouri Lawmen, for the Outstanding Police Officer of the Community Award. Throughout his 14 years in the circuit, Shane has been a dependable teammate on/off the field and role model for the younger up and coming players, but that is not why I am writing this nomination!
He’s a family man with a passion for police work, softball, and charitable giving. Some background on Shane would include his time in law enforcement, which has been over 25 years now in the St. Louis area, as Patrolman, Drug Task Force Officer, Mobile Reserve Officer, Detective, Major Case Squad Investigator and Detective Sergeant. Over his time on the job, he has earned the reputation as one of the area’s greatest Detectives with a clearance rate of nearly 80%, in serious violent felonies. He has been a top Investigator with the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis, earning multiple certificates of merit awards for Outstanding Investigative Efforts & Interrogation Skills on various homicide investigations and more recently been named Officer of the Year in November of 2023.
Shane is also current President of his Police Officers Association and involved in every charitable event he can get on his extremely packed schedule. In the past, Shane has competed in Guns & Hoses boxing events to raise money for the local Backstoppers organization, for line of duty injury/death benefits for Officers and their families. He also delivered 1200lbs of donated food/drinks to Mayfield KY Police Department after the devastating tornado that ripped through their city in 2021. I know I am missing some of his past charitable deeds, but some that he currently organizes and participates in annually are as follows:
· Det. Sgt. Monnig helps organize and participates in an Annual Beards for Babies Fundraiser raising funds for the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, which provides a short-term safe haven for nearly 4000 children a year in the St. Louis area. In addition to this Beards for Babies Fundraiser, he organizes multiple raffles to raise additional funds for this great local charity.
· Det. Sgt. Monnig also organizes a team of Law Enforcement Officers in an annual wheel chair basketball fundraiser game benefiting the St. Louis Rolling Rams, which is a competitive wheelchair basketball team of area disabled kids ranging from ages 6-18. Funds raised at this event help the team cover their annual expenses and ensures these kids continue to have this outlet and to bring awareness to the sport itself.
· Two of the last three years Det. Sgt. Monnig has teamed up with ABV Barrel and held a bourbon fundraiser where funds raised where donated to the ALS Foundation of St. Louis, which provides care and support for families affected by Lou Gehrig’s Disease in the Greater St. Louis Area.
· Det. Sgt. Monnig volunteers his time as the Master of Ceremonies for the annual Polar Plunge at Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis County, raising tens of thousands of dollars for the Special Olympics.
· Every year on the annual National Read Across America Day, Det. Sgt. Monnig volunteers his time at local elementary schools to read books to kids in an effort to celebrate and encourage reading among the youth of our community.
· Finally, Det. Sgt. Monnig, along with the Maryland Heights Police Officers Association, organizes many fundraisers throughout the year to help fund the Annual Meeting with Santa at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital. This event not only ensures all children at the hospital get a gift from their wish list, but it also focuses on encouraging these pediatric patients to get out of their hospital beds and/or rooms, and engage with others, which can be a struggle at times.
Shane literally has a hand in so many charitable events, I know I am missing some. Shane is exactly the person every Police Department wishes they are getting at the time they make a new hire. With the time and effort, he gives to so many local charities, year after year, I believe Shane Monnig is exactly who the OPOC Award was made for!