HONORING TWO GREAT MEN WITH THE OTOA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

TEAM WENDY SPONSORS THE 2019 OTOA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Being a first responder isn’t a job for the faint of heart. It requires insurmountable courage, dedication, expertise, integrity and professionalism. While every member of law enforcement is part of an exceptional group that deserves our gratitude, the Ohio Tactical Officers Association (OTOA) Award for Excellence acknowledges those who go the extra mile in advancing the tactical community through their commitment and leadership.
 
Tactical officer associations promote professionalism in policing, and OTOA is considered one of the best nationally, drawing members from SWAT teams across the country. Of course, the majority works to protect our state of Ohio and, with the OTOA office being in Cleveland, the very streets where Team Wendy and its employees reside. OTOA provides training in classrooms and in the field on skills like breaching, covert lock picking and tactical rifle and pistol courses. They give officers the chance to gain a better understanding of things they wouldn’t necessarily discuss at their home stations, such as debriefing after a mass shooting; they discuss what law enforcement can learn from the tragedy in regard to the strategy of both the shooter and the responding officers. In short, OTOA equips our officers to be the best they can at keeping our communities safe, even in the most unexpected and dire circumstances.
 
Team Wendy was excited to sponsor this year’s award at the OTOA Awards Banquet on Wednesday, June 5 as part of OTOA’s 32nd Annual Training Conference in Sandusky, Ohio. It was my honor to personally present the award to Ryan Rought and Lt. Rick Friedl and to give them each a new EXFIL^® Ballistic SL helmet. I also had the opportunity to talk with these outstanding men, and I have no doubt that the OTOA selection committee truly chose the most deserving candidates to recognize.
Ryan Rought, founder and director of TACTICA Ministries, received one of the two OTOA Awards for Excellence.
 
Ryan Rought is the founder and director of Teaching Authorities Christian Truths in Central America (TACTICA) Ministries. A Michigan native, he served 11 years in the U.S. Army and 12 years with Kalamazoo Public Safety as a sergeant and assistant commander of their SWAT team. His experiences as a military veteran and a law enforcement officer were foundational for TACTICA. Based in Costa Rica, the nonprofit organization has trained over 10,000 law enforcement officers — including street cops, search and rescue, crowd control, tactical medics and presidential police — over the past 12 years to instruct them in both sound tactics and spiritual direction. And aside from the distinction of his professional career, Ryan is a selfless and kind individual who even went as far as to offer me a bag of delicious Costa Rican coffee upon his next visit back to Cleveland.
 
Lt. Rick Friedl serves with the South Euclid Police Department in Team Wendy’s home city of Cleveland and has been commander of the Eastside Department Group Enforcement (EDGE) SWAT team since February 2013. With EDGE, he works with six different Cleveland-area communities — Beachwood, Euclid, South Euclid, Cleveland Heights, University Heights and Shaker Heights — and answers to six police chiefs, a communicative challenge that he meets and exceeds. In 2018, the EDGE team conducted 76 operations. Rick ensures the team trains twice a month and conducts a week-long training every September.

Lt. Rick Friedl (left) received the second OTOA Award for Excellence due to his outstanding work as commander of the Eastside Department Group Enforcement (EDGE) SWAT team.

“Commander Friedl is always the first to arrive and the last to leave,” read his nomination, which was supported by four EDGE officers. “He ensures that training is productive and beneficial to the team and that all personnel, whether you are a breacher, sniper, team leader, entry team member or medic, have the opportunity to train.”
 
Meeting Ryan and Rick and giving them each a Team Wendy ballistic helmet was a tangible reminder of the brave men and women that Team Wendy strives to protect. I am glad that we were able to give these two men the recognition they deserve and hope that our helmets help keep them safe as they continue their work saving lives.
 
By Jose Rizo-Patron
Chief Executive Officer