June 2016 Salute to Law Enforcement: Officer Craig Cory

Officer Craig Cory, who currently serves as the Wahpeton Police Department’s representative on the Southeast Multi-County Agency (SEMCA), is in his 12th year of service with the Wahpeton Police Department. Prior to coming to Wahpeton, Officer Cory also served as an officer for the Bowman, ND Police Department for two years. Since joining the Wahpeton Police Department, Officer Corey has received specialized training and has served as a Field Training Officer (FTO), Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), is a Certified Police Instructor and is also a member of the Southern Valley Special Response Team (SRT) and the Richland County Water Rescue Team. Officer Cory is being recognized for his performance during an incident on May 6th of this year during which he, as part of the Richland County Water Rescue Team, responded to a report of a missing male subject in the Red River adjacent to Chahinkapa Park in Wahpeton. While serving as a Rescue Diver, Officer Cory conducted an extensive “touch-only” search for the missing victim in the cold, swift, zero-visibility water and was eventually able to locate the victim and bring him to the surface for retrieval by other emergency personnel. Althou8gh the victim could not be resuscitated in this incident, Officer Cory’s effort to affect his speedy recovery is praiseworthy for a variety of reasons, most particularly because of the generally overlooked difficulty and danger involved with a search conducted by a diver in the type of river conditions existing at the time of this incident.