2026 Telecommunicators Appreciation Celebration and Outstanding Performance Awards

On Friday, April 10, MARC will honor 911 emergency dispatchers and calltakers across the Kansas City region for providing life-saving emergency services and coordinating complex emergency response. The 2026 Telecommunicators Appreciation Celebration (TAC) and Outstanding Performance Awards (OPAs) honors telecommunicators who consistently perform above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrate exemplary individual and team performance in a critical incident, conduct outstanding training performance and have made a significant contribution to the field of public safety over a minimum of 20 years.

Outstanding Support Services Excellence 

• Carter Wetherington, Johnson County, Kansas, Sheriff's Office

Everyday Hero

• John Hilton, Gladstone, Missouri, Police Department

Outstanding Training Performance 

• Brianna Stanley, Shawnee, Kansas, Police Department

Outstanding Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Leader

• Lt. David Ross, Johnson County, Kansas, Sheriff's Office

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Critical Incident 

• Cari Terpening, Riverside, Missouri, Police Department  (PSAP with two to five positions)
• Jennae Eastin, Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department  (PSAP with six or more positions)

Outstanding Team Performance in a Critical Incident 

• Angie Cooper, Robert Stotts and Sydney Horne - Shawnee, Kansas, Police Department (PSAP with two to five positions)
• KarLeigh Pottberg, Morgan Livengood, Kristina Pearson and Cierrah Parsons - Independence, Missouri, Police Department (PSAP with six or more positions) 

Outstanding Multi-Agency Performance

• Johnson County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office
• Johnson County, Kansas, Emergency Communications Center

Lifetime Achievement

• Tim Kobe, Prairie Village, Kansas, Police Department
• Jamie Taylor, Lee's Summit, Missouri Police Department (posthumously)

Serving 11 counties, MARC is the coordinating agency for the Kansas City Regional 911 System. The regional 911 system handles more than 4.2 million 911 and administrative calls each year, and includes Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri, and Atchison, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. Committees and task forces comprised of local government representatives coordinate the 911 system.