Rivera receives award, and recognition for promotion to Senior Deputy

Lincoln's resident Deputy Robert Rivera said he knew something was up when his whole family was at the Lincoln Government Day meeting June 5.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton used the occasion to recognize Rivera for a pair of accomplishments dating back to February.

Dutton awarded Rivera with the Lifesaving Award for his actions Feb. 29 to help save the life of a choking man.

Rivera responded to a call that evening for an individual who was choking and not breathing. When he arrived, EMT Aaron Birkholz and Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse were working to dislodge the obstruction and were preparing an automatic defibrillator.

The man had no pulse, so Birkholz and Muse put Rivera to work performing chest compressions while they cleared his airway and performed rescue breathing.

The man's pulse returned and he began breathing after the ambulance arrived. He regained consciousness in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

"Rivera remained calm during this incident and relied on his professionalism and training to assist the medics in saving this victims life," the award nomination letter from patrol Sergeant Jason Crum read.

Muse had e-mailed Crum with word of Rivera's actions the night of the incident. Both he and Birkholz credited him with directly helping save the person's life.

Dutton said the award came with no small amount of consideration.

"Having been involved in EMS I understand what it's like to go into a chaotic scene and all those things are happening. And (you) keep your head about you and pick the job that needs to be done," Dutton said.

Dutton said it reflected well on law enforcement and the Sheriff's office.

"What I like the most is our community involvement, that we are a team,": he told Rivera. "You're part of that team and people accept you if you're wearing a uniform, or off duty."

"I just want to say thank you to the EMS and the fire who were on scene," Rivera said. "I couldn't have done that without them. They walked me the whole way through it and as soon as I started, all my training came back to me and it worked out."

After the award presentation, Undersheriff Jason Grimmis noted another accomplishment by Rivera.

"Most of you who have come into contact with Robert probably noticed something different about him. "The insignia on his collar has changed as of April 5, 2020," he said. "Robert went through the promotions process for Senior Deputy and was proudly promoted to Senior Deputy."

Grimmis said Rivera worked at Toole County and U of M Police department prior to coming to the sheriff's office, and immediately requested Lincoln after completing his field training with the LCSO.

"Since taking over, he has inserted himself at the school, teaching DARE classes. He came with a lot of DARE training before he got to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office," he said. "In addition to that he's worked with the school to secure an office space at the school."

Grimmis said Rivera has taken on multiple roles as the substation deputy and as a deputy coroner, as well as effectively serving in roles as a DARE officer and a School Resource Officer.

After the recognition, Dutton called Rivera's family forward to thank them publicly.

"This job is not just this uniform," he said. "This job is everything you see here. Everything that happens to a law enforcement officer, they have to bear the brunt of. When it's exciting times, they're excited, went it's tense times, they don't really know about it. They sit home and they wonder 'is Robert coming home?' This is what makes us a special profession. It's not just the employees. Robert can't do this job without his family right here."

Restrictions on gatherings related to COVID -19 delayed the public recognition of Rivera's pair of accomplishments.