In front of a large crowd of friends, family, peers, business associates and local elected officials, Officer Marcus Bechtold of the Affton-Southwest Precinct and Officer Bradley Tucker of the South County Precinct were honored as the 2025 Police Officers of the Year by the South County Police Business Association at the organization’s annual awards ceremony held this year on Oct. 15 at River City Casino Hotel.

Bechtold — a former Marine who has been with the Affton-Southwest Precinct since 2017 — was called to the stage first.

“The reason we chose Marcus is his leadership skills. He’s an excellent field trainer … he has a great work ethic,” Affton-Southwest Precinct Commander Captain Guy Means said. “We’re excited to see what his future holds for the department.”

Next up was Bradley Tucker, a newer officer at the South County Precinct having graduated from the St. Louis County Police Academy in 2023 following six years of serving in the United States Navy.

“In 2025 alone, while assigned to the precinct’s midnight watch, Officer Tucker has led the precinct in a majority of our measurable statistics. He has responded to over 1,300 radio assignments, with an additional 905 self-initiated activities. He has made a total of 101 arrests, with 56 of those being for felony crimes. He has cleared 136 crimes, 64 of those being felonies. In addition, he’s written 205 traffic citations,” South County Precinct Commander Captain Brian Schellman said. “Officer Tucker is an excellent asset to our entire department.”

In addition to being recognized at the ceremony with a plaque, each officer of the year received a check for $2,000, a certificate for two nights at the Red Oak Resort in Camdenton, Missouri, and two nights at the Comfort Suites in Sunset Hills, donated by the Comfort Suites. 

Also noted at the awards ceremony were seven scholarship recipients. Each recipient, a child of an officer or employee from either precinct, received $1,500 to go towards their college tuition, a significant bump from the usual $1,000 given out the past five years. This was made possible by local car dealership owner Dan Sinclair and other donors.

“It’s an honor for every member of this association to try to give something back. There’s an old saying that says no good deed goes unpunished. But we don’t believe in that. We believe one good deed deserves another,” Mark Bussen, the scholarship presenter, said.