'All-Star' Hammond back on the job

In his first few days back on the beat, officer Ken Hammond pulled over four suspected drunken drivers.

"Three of the four recognized me and shook my hand and thanked me for doing what I did," he said Tuesday.

Hammond still put them in handcuffs.

The Ogden police officer who is credited with helping end the Trolley Square shooting rampage is still easing back into the daily routine of traffic stops and tickets, after being cleared to return to duty.

He's also adjusting to his newfound fame.

"It's kind of weird," he said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday. "What I've been telling people,'The day in Trolley Square I was doing my job. Me writing tickets and doing DUIs, I'm doing my job.'"

Hammond was off duty and having dinner with his wife, Sarita, when 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic went on a killing spree inside the mall Feb. 12. Five people were killed and four others wounded. Hammond got into a shootout with Talovic, and helped end the rampage when the young man was killed by police.

He's been hailed as a hero and credited with saving lives, and now Hammond is being touted as an "all-star." The Ogden officer has been nominated for the "America's Most Wanted" All-Star award, given to first responders who do heroic deeds.

"It was quite the surprise," Hammond said. "I was very shocked and extremely honored."

Thousands of police officers, paramedics and firefighters are nominated on the popular crime-fighting TV show's Web site, www.amw.com. The winning first-responder gets a VIP trip to a NASCAR race and $10,000.

"Ken Hammond is a true all star," said Bill Parks, a producer of the "America's Most Wanted" All-Star Awards, "the type of individual we encourage the public to recognize. He selflessly put himself in harm's way to protect members of the community."

An e-mail is circulating among employees of the Ogden Police Department and the courts to get people to log onto the Web site every day and vote for Hammond.

"Viewers can vote once a day," Parks said. "That's where we rally around the community to get out there to rally behind the all star. Although it's a weekly contest, at the end of the week it starts all over again."

Some first-responders really get into campaigning, but Hammond said he's not up for that.

"I'm not wearing a button or anything like that," he said. "My friends and family, I've mentioned it to them and passed the link around to them."

Hammond said if he won, he would look forward to the trip to Charlotte, N.C.

"I'm a big fan of NASCAR. It would be fun," he said. "Just a good break for Sarita and I, to just relax."

---

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com