Rotary Club Honors Police Officer, Firefighter
Thursday, June 13th, 2024
Two first responders from Dalton public safety departments were honored Tuesday by the Rotary Club of Dalton. Captain Barry Woods of the Dalton Police Department and Engineer Dale Reed of the Dalton Fire Department were both recognized with the club's Rotary Vocational Excellence Award. The award is presented annually to a members of the first responder agencies serving Dalton and Whitfield County.
Caption: Rotary Club President Lynn Laughter poses with DFD Chief Matt Daniel, DFD Engineer Dale Reed, DPD Captain Barry Woods, and DPD Assistant Chief Chris Crossen after Tuesday's awards luncheon
Captain Woods was selected for the award by the Dalton Police Department's command staff for his outstanding service during his 26 years of service with the agency. Captain Woods has been recognizes with 18 commendations for his work during his career, including commendations for his work in an investigation that led to the arrest of dangerous armed robbery suspects, the apprehension of a kidnapping and carjacking suspect, and also the 2017 DPD Leadership Award. Captain Woods joined the department in 1998 as a patrol officer and quickly began to move up the ranks into leadership positions. He has spent most of his career in the Criminal Investigations Division which he now leads as division commander. Before moving into supervision, he served as a detective assigned to general cases and later as a drug unit and task force detective.
"He has shown a tremendous ability to lead in any role he has been assigned," said Assistant Chief Chris Crossen in a letter recommending Woods for the honor. "(He) has done an excellent job at any task he has been given."
Engineer Dale Reed was selected as the Dalton Fire Department's recipient of the Rotary Vocational Excellence Award on the strength of his selection as the agency's Firefighter of the Year earlier in 2024. That honor, which Reed has now earned twice, is decided by a vote of the department's firefighters. Reed became a Dalton firefighter in July 2011 and he has been a leader in the department ever since. In addition to his other duties with the agency, Reed leads the physical training sessions for new recruits each morning during their 14 weeks of recruit school. He's also become instrumental in numerous training programs in the department.
"His colleagues speak of him with great respect and admiration, not just for his professional skills, but for the character he brings to the team," Chief Matt Daniel said in his remarks nominating Reed for the Rotary honor. "Dale's ability to lead by example, to inspire and motivate those around him, has set a standard within our department that we all strive to emulate."
Personnel from the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office, Whitfield County Fire Department, Hamilton EMS, and Whitfield County EMA/911 were also honored with Rotary Vocational Excellence Awards at Tuesday's luncheon.
