SANDWICH — The next time you see a Sandwich police officer, he or she will be wearing some new bling on his or her uniform.

At an awards ceremony Wednesday evening at Sandwich Town Hall — the first in the department's history — two dozen police officers received 71 awards for valor, bravery, life-saving acts and outstanding service spanning the past three-plus decades. Family members and town leaders filled the auditorium on the second floor and watched as the officers were handed certificates and bars of white, gold, dark blue and green to signify their achievements.

"Law enforcement officers regularly find themselves thrust into complicated and dangerous situations," Police Chief Peter Wack said. "Their success goes unnoticed by the general public."

A year ago the department implemented an employee-recognition policy and created a four-member committee to plan the awards ceremony, Wack said. Over the past 11 months, Lt. Lynne Gourley and Sgt. Michael Bondarek pored through department records, pulling out significant arrests and rescues to recognize the work of their peers.

One of the awards dated back to 1974 when Sgt. Daniel O'Connell, an officer at the time, revived a baby who wasn't breathing. O'Connell mouthed the word "wow" as Wack recited what happened that summer day at Lighthouse Cottages.

"Officer O'Connell's actions saved the infant's life," he said.

The most recent incident recognized was on June 17, when Officers David Dwyer and Lauren Gilrein rescued a 58-year-old man who was not breathing.