MOULTRIE, Ga. — The South Georgia chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving held its 10th annual recognition banquet Friday, Feb. 23, in Moultrie and presented awards to several people and groups that supported MADD’s mission through 2017.

Among the awards was recognition for law enforcement officers who have made arrests for driving under the influence, including five officers who made more than 100 such charges last year.

The most DUI arrests recognized at the banquet were by Gary Roy of the Tallahassee, Fla., Police Department, who had 133. He was followed by Trooper 1st Class Christopher Jewell of the GSP’s Nighthawks Middle Georgia (121), Sgt. Daniel Smith of the Nighthawks (112), Deputy Jace Norman of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office (111) and Trooper 1st Class Sanchez of GSP Post 39 in Cuthbert (101).

GSP Post 12 in Thomasville, which covers Colquitt County, had five officers recognized: TFC2 Chris Hosey (49 arrests), Trooper Andrew Davidson (45), TFC3 Johnny Kirk (35), TFC2 Greg Shiver (26) and TFC2 Cantrell Cooley (25).

Officers from three Colquitt County-based agencies were recognized:

• Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office: Deputy Kevin Tucker (7 arrests), Deputy Channing McDowell (6), Sgt. Joey Chapman (5), Deputy Grant Britt (4), Sgt. Christopher Thomas (3), Cpl. Cody Green (3) and Deputy Hiram Cardona (3).

• Moultrie Police Department: Sgt. Nic Harrison (9 arrests), 1st Sgt. Fernando Hernandez (8), Lt. Rocky Hancock (8), Officer Rodderick Spence (6) and Officer James White (6).

• Doerun Police Department: Officer Christopher Good (3 arrests), Capt. Chris Clark (1), Officer Johnathan Powers (1) and Officer James White (1).

In all, 96 officers from 27 agencies and GSP posts were honored for more than 2,600 DUI arrests.

Other awards went to officers or non-law enforcement personnel who have supported MADD’s efforts in other ways:

• MADD Volunteer of the Year: Christi Roy of MADD South Georgia.

• VIP Speaker of the Year: Sgt. Russ Covington of GSP Post 12.

• Law Enforcement Officers of the Year: Trooper 1st Class Christopher Jewell of GSP Nighthawks Middle Georgia and Deputy Jace Norman of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

• DUI Heroes: Gary Roy of Tallahassee Police Department and Jim Shingler of Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

• Outstanding Newspaper Coverage: Kevin Hall of The Moultrie Observer.

• Outstanding TV Coverage: Danielle Ledbetter of Fox 31 WFXL-TV.

• Outstanding Radio Coverage: Jaxon Riley of NASH FM 104.5.

• Awards were presented to 50 people and groups for participation in MADD Victim Impact Panels or other MADD events.

• Recognition was made to South Georgia judges and prosecutors: Judge Herbert Benson of Tift County State Court, Judge Chase Daughtrey of Cook County Probate Court, Judge David Herndon of the City of Moultrie, Judge Richard Kent of Colquitt County State Court, Judge J.J. McMillan of Colquitt County Magistrate Court, the Colquitt County District Attorney’s Office and Judge Chad C. Van Orman of the City of Tifton.

For more information about MADD South Georgia, contact Gary Robinson, the community action site leader, at (229) 646-3797 or by email at gafireman42@yahoo.com.