HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) will honor Holland Police Officer Joseph Slenk and three Jackson police officers on Sept. 21 for their life-saving efforts.
The honors will be handed out during LEEP’s Outstanding Service Awards, set for Sept. 21, 2018, during the Police Officers Labor Council/General Employees Labor Council (POLC/GELC) Conference at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.
All of the officers were nominated by their peers, according to a statement by LEEP officials.
Holland Public Safety Officer Joseph Slenk will be honored next week by the Law Enforcement Education Program
Slenk is the officer credited for saving the life of Olive Township resident Mary Hartman, who was being held at gunpoint by her estranged husband. Officer Slenk fatally shot 27-year-old Matthew James Hartman when Hartman exited the couple’s home holding a gun to his Mary Hartmans’s head and refusing orders by police to drop the gun.
Matthew Hartman had earlier driven Mary Hartman to a Muskegon home that morning, where he shot two people in front of her. She was able to text her mom at that time, who alerted police.
29-year-old Jordan Carey died and a a 25-year-old woman inside that Muskegon home was wounded. Mary Hartman was also able to text police to alert them that Matthew Hartman was threatening to kill her.
Police arrived at the Brickersville Drive unit Olive Estates mobile home park in time to see the suspect repeatedly entering and exiting his home — when he came out with a gun to Mary Hartman’s head, Slenk took action, in the chaos that included Mary Hartman screaming in panic. A single shot from Slenk’s gun ended Matthrew Hartman’s life, saving Mary Hartman’s, without injuring her.
Ottawa County Prosecutor Ronald Frantz later wrote that Slenk quickly understood the desperate circumstances and took the action “necessary to prevent another homicide.”
Slenk, a Special Enforcement Team (SET) member and K-9 handler, was as an Evidence Technician,West Michigan Enforcement Team Detective, Field Training Officer and 2015 Officer of the Year.
As a member of SET, he trains monthly in shooting and tactical experience, including training and shooting from HDPS’ armored vehicle, including during hostage scenarios.
“Without any doubt, having done this type of training helped this outcome in saving Mary Hartman’s life,” Slenk said in the LEEP statement to media.
