The Youngstown Police Departments' 2024 Annual Awards took place at St. Dominic's Thursday morning.

Officers were recognized for their performance over the past couple years. Some of the awards given were for excellence in investigations, merit-based service, and for excellent police duty.

YPD says its a way to say thank you to the people working hard hours to keep people safe and bring criminals to justice.

"There's a lot of negativity around the profession and we just want them to know we appreciate them and the work that they do every single day," says Lieutenant Mohammad Awad, Chairman of the YPD Awards Committee. "We're short staffed very often, these officers are working doubles and they go out there and do a great job for the community."

This year's recipients of the department's Excellence Award included Detective Sergeant Zubal and Officer Bodnar.