DPD Honors Officer Of The Month, Traffic Unit

The Dalton Police Department honored its officer of the month and the agency's Traffic Enforcement Unit (TEU) at Tuesday morning's monthly meeting of the Public Safety Commission. Detective Jason Robinson was honored as the agency's officer of the month for his outstanding work to solve a series of credit card fraud cases while the TEU was recognized for an exceptional showing in the annual Governor's Challenge. 

Detective Robinson was presented to the PSC by Assistant Chief Chris Crossen for recognition as the Officer of the Month for September 2021. Detective Robinson was nominated by his supervisor, Lt. Mathew Locke, for his investigation of a series of credit card fraud cases. His efforts led not only to multiple arrests, but also to federal prosecution of the case on the part of the Assistant US Attorney's Office. 

Detective Robinson (right) with Asst. Chief Crossen

Officer Colten Parker of the DPD's Traffic Enforcement Unit presented the rest of the TEU to the PSC for recognition of their recent winning effort in the annual Governor's Challenge. The event is sponsored each year by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and agencies are judged on their efforts in traffic enforcement and traffic safety education. The DPD brought home top honors in three different categories for the year 2020 at a recent awards banquet. The agency won First Place honors in Category 5 (agencies with 76-100 sworn officers) for the fourth year in a row. Also, the department won the Regional Challenge against the Category 5 winner from the State of Tennessee. And this year, the Dalton Police Department TEU also took home the Governor's Cup which is given each year to the agency that scored the highest total score overall among departments no matter their size. That means the DPD, with only three officers assigned full-time to traffic enforcement, beat out agencies as large as the Atlanta Police Department. This is the first time that the DPD has earned those honors. The TEU is comprised of Officer Parker, Officer Jacob Allen, and Officer Matthew Dykes as well as supervising Sergeant Woody Cantrell. The Dalton Police Department is proud of their efforts to keep Dalton's roadways safe. 

Members of the TEU pose with their awards from the Governor's Challenge