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Dunwoody Police Achievement Awards Announced

Post Date:02/02/2023 3:04 p.m.

Dunwoody, GA - February 2, 2023 - The entire staff of the Dunwoody Police Department is committed to serving the citizens of Dunwoody throughout the year.  We appreciate the continued support of our community and know that without our community’s support, our job would be much more difficult. Once a year, we pause to recognize some of our highest achievers, those officers and civilian staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to our citizens.  It is important for us to recognize excellence amongst our staff.  

“Our staff is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to the citizens in our community and our award recipients reflect that dedication.  Every call is important to us and every incident is a priority," said Chief Billy Grogan.

The Dunwoody Police Department recently recognized 17 members of the department for their outstanding achievements in 2022.  They were recognized as follows: 

Cheung, Crum, Nelson

OFFICER OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Officer Alexander Cheung (Officer of the 2nd Quarter) 
During the initial phases of a double homicide investigation during 2022, Officer Cheung searched our Flock system for potential suspect vehicles involved, based off the dispatched call notes. As the investigation continued, he was provided video surveillance footage from a resident showing the victim’s vehicle and another vehicle. This officer was then able to locate the second vehicle via Flock. Based off of his own developments in the case, he documented the timeline from the video footage and Flock history showing how the two vehicles were related. 
Officer Cheung provided our CID Unit with the information that he had learned, to include the timeline and video that he was provided. With this new information, Detectives searched all relevant areas for the second vehicle. Once the second vehicle was located, Detectives were able to detain a male suspect as he was entering the vehicle. This male suspect was the first arrest of the four offenders responsible for this double homicide.
Through Officer Cheung’s outstanding efforts and attention to detail, the first offender in the double homicide was arrested and charged, less than 12 hours after the crime took place. 

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Property & Evidence Technician Adria Crum (Employee of the 4th Quarter) 
The Employee and Officer of the Year awards are voted upon by staff members based on our Quarterly award winner nominee summaries. PSR Adria Crum consistently volunteers to work beyond her normal working hours to assist in the training of our new records system for the nightshift PSR’s. During the 2022 Christmas for Kids program, she volunteered many hours to assist in toy collections, sorting, our Wrap-Up event, and Santa’s Winter Wonderland event. She has a very calm and generous demeanor, which makes her such a pleasure to work with. During a short period of time after joining our Dunwoody family early in 2022, Adria quickly built a great rapport with everyone around her, including public visitors, as she proved her dedication and willingness to go above and beyond. 

SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Sergeant Harold (Trey) Nelson 
Sergeant Nelson received numerous nominations from subordinates and co-workers alike. Highlights of his qualities and accomplishments include leading by example and empowering his team to embrace their individual leadership qualities. Through his no-nonsense, but positive attitude, he encourages transparency and honest feedback from his staff. Time and time again, he has demonstrated his commitment by following through quickly and accurately on each task he is assigned.  Sergeant Nelson is innovative and embraces “outside the box” thinking from his team to accomplish goals. He continually researches new equipment, grants and programs that can benefit our department and citizens. And he consistently seeks to prevent problems before they arise. 

Baker, Corbett, Tate 

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Citizen on Patrol, Tielke Baker 
The Volunteer of the Year Award honors our hardest-working volunteer each year. Tielke Baker has been a member of the Citizens’ on Patrol team since 2017. During the year 2022, he contributed 259 volunteer hours and consistently volunteered for special events and extra shifts every chance he got. Tielke volunteers much of  his time as a Master Gardener at the Dunwoody Community Garden in Brook Run Park. 

RISING STAR OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Officer Jeffrey Corbett 
The Rising Star award is presented to an officer that has less than two years of service with the Dunwoody Police Department and exemplifies outstanding qualities, characteristics, and effectiveness as a new officer with the department. Our 2022 Rising Star of the Year has been described as having a strong work ethic and commitment to excellence in his role. His passion for law enforcement is evident in his performance and he has consistently gone above and beyond in his duties as a police officer. 

CHIEF’S AWARD, 2022 
Property & Evidence Technician, Katharine Tate 
Since the inception of our department, K.C. Tate has demonstrated time and time again her passion and commitment towards DPD’s operations and our culture as a whole. During the year 2013, she initiated our Child Safety Seat Check program to contribute towards the mission of automobile safety for children in our community and beyond. She trained to become a certified Child Safety Seat Technician and Instructor. Since then, she has trained other officers and law enforcement staff, both inside and outside our department, to become certified technicians. Through this program, she consistently coordinates and offers “Car Seat Check” events within our community throughout the year, as well as one-on-one inspections via individual appointments. She has even sought and secured safety grants to fund the purchase of numerous Child Safety Seats, in order to donate them to families who are not otherwise able to afford one. She continues to ensure the integrity of this program by remaining current on all state and nationwide regulations and guidelines.  

Lopez, Green, Estes 

TOP COP COMPETITION WINNERS, 2022
Officers Kevin Lopez and Ernesto Green
Top Cop is a multi-discipline competition which includes physical fitness, mental aptitude, and shooting drills. Officers were paired up in teams of two for 2022. Together, Officers Lopez and Green earned the fastest overall time during this competition. 

MARKSMAN OF THE YEAR, 2022 
Officer Eddie Estes earned the highest firearms qualification score during the department’s Spring Firearms training. 

Haviland, Smith, Sanders 

MEDALS OF MERITORIOUS SERVICE (LIFE SAVING) 
Officer Eric Haviland Officer William Smith Sergeant Joshua Sanders
Shortly before dawn, on the morning of March 6, 2022, our local 9-11 Call Center received a call about a house on fire. Upon arrival, Officers found an elderly female who stated that her husband was inside of their home and that it was catching on fire. Officers then attempted to make entry via the garage door and discovered the door to be locked. Sergeant Sanders kicked in the door to the home and was immediately met with heavy black smoke - too hazardous for Officers to attempt entry. After searching the perimeter of the home, Officer Haviland located an unsecured door and found the victim lying unconscious on the floor. Without hesitation, Sergeant Sanders pushed into the burning home and grabbed the victim, while Officer Haviland and Officer Smith assisted by grabbing ahold of the victim’s legs. Together, they pulled the victim out of the heavy smoke to safety.  Once outside the residence, it was discovered that the victim was not alert, conscious, nor breathing. Officers immediately began life saving measures by conducting chest compressions and attaching an AED to the victim’s chest. No shock was advised on the AED, so Officers continued chest compressions until Fire and Paramedics could arrive on scene.
The victim was transported to the hospital and was listed in critical condition. By that same afternoon, the hospital reported that the victim had been stabilized and was going to survive. The victim is 90 years old and was working on the electrical system inside the home. He had succumbed to the smoke within the home and without rescue by the officers, would have likely died of smoke inhalation. Because of the outstanding life-saving skills, quick actions and controlled teamwork of these three officers, this victim survived to see another tomorrow.

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