DPD Honors Officer of the Month

The Dalton Police Department honored one of its officers for heroism at Tuesday morning's meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission. Detective Tommy Ensley was presented to the commission as the agency's Officer of the Month for August. Detective Ensley was recognized with the award in September, but the October PSC meeting was the earliest that the honor could be presented in front of the commission. 

Detective Ensley was honored for his heroism while assisting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with a homicide investigation on August 12th. While accompanying a GBI agent during the investigation, a suspect tried to run away on foot. Detective Ensley and the GBI agent gave chase. The suspect, who was armed with a gun, apparently wanted the police to shoot him. The suspect put the gun to his own head at the end of the chase. Detective Ensley negotiated with the suspect, and the GBI agent later told his supervisors at the DPD that Ensley did an exceptional job of connecting to the suspect and convincing him to put down his gun. After Detective Ensley's efforts to de-escalate the situation, the suspect dropped his weapon. 

For his bravery and for his efforts that saved the suspect's life and also possibly the lives of others, Detective Ensley was recognized as the DPD's Officer of the Month for August 2021. 

Below: Detective Tommy Ensley (left) was presented with the award by Captain Mike Wilson (right)