MOULTRIE — The Rotary Club of Moultrie held its annual Law Enforcement Recognition Luncheon last week at Southern Regional Technical College.

Rotary President RJ Taylor II opened the occasion last Tuesday by telling the audience that the club has held the luncheon for 13 years to honor law enforcement.

“We definitely appreciate everyone in attendance today,” he said. “Thank you all for everything that you do for our community. We hope that this is a token of our appreciation with these awards.”

Then, Judge Matt Littleton led the awards program and he opened with, “Law enforcement is an honorable profession.”

“Law enforcement, in my opinion, doesn’t get enough acknowledgement,” he said. “We should honor law enforcement as much as we do any other profession.”

He said that he was going to talk about a couple of things that people in the Rotary Club could do to help raise awareness of what law enforcement goes through.

“One of the things that we can do is become more aware of what does go on in the law enforcement community. What they have to deal with,” said Littleton.

He gave an example of how the “Stop and Frisk” legislation had come into being and that it gave law enforcement the ability to detain someone if they could reasonably articulate their suspicion.

“In a lot of cities, they’re trying to do away with Stop and Frisk,” he said. “What can we do? We can talk to our politicians. … We can talk to our politicians when things come up.”

He also said another thing that they could do for law enforcement was to commit to pray for them.

“These guys and girls, obviously, need our prayers. They go through so much out on the street. … They go through far more than what I think most people realize,” Littleton said.

Then, he started calling up each agency to present their awards to their officer of the year.

The awardees

♦ Deputy Warden Matt Connor presented the Colquitt County Prison award to Sgt. Devin Wright.

“His work ethic, his dedication to duty, his honesty is what makes him stand apart,” Connor said. “I know I can call this man day or night, he’s gonna pick-up the phone. I know he’s gonna be there. He’s gonna come in, he’s gonna get the job done and it’s gonna get done right.”

♦ Sheriff Rod Howell presented the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office award to Jail Officer Nathaniel Jimenez.

“His work and work ethic he’s demonstrated has been outstanding for our team members,” said Howell. “Nathan consistently goes above and beyond. The folks love working for him. He puts himself ahead of everybody.”

♦ Chief Chad Castleberry presented the Moultrie Police Department award to Lt. Lazaro Monzon.

“I can’t think of a better example of leadership than this young man here,” said Castleberry. “We have nominations from within the department. … so their peers get to choose their officer of the year. Lt. Monzon received several nominations. That tells you that he’s a leader among his peers.”

♦ Chief Chuck Snyder presented the Norman Park Police Department award to Officer Charles Dean.

“He was there when I became chief of Norman Park and he was there to answer leadership questions that I had and I appreciate hime for that,” said Snyder. “He’s very dependable. If I need somebody to work holidays, weekends, he’s there and that means a lot.”

♦ Assistant Special Agent in Charge Zach Johnson presented the Georgia Bureau of Investigation award to Special Agent II Seth Allen.

“One thing that I’ve learned that we cannot teach is a passion and a desire to do this job. We can teach the technical skills, we can pour into them but but it makes my job easier when I have people like Seth working at our office, who have that genuine go-getter attitude,” said Johnson. “I’m proud to have him, I’m proud to call him a friend, I’m proud to have him as an agent in our office.”

♦ Chief Melanie Hasty presented the Georgia Department of Community Supervision: Probation and Parole award to Community Service Officer III Detrich Clark.

“Detrich has a great attitude. He’s sort of our ‘can-do-it’ guy. You won’t hear him say anything negative, “ said Hasty. “Honestly, I wish that I could bottle up some of his positivity and take it with me because I think I need to remind myself of that sometimes.”

♦ Sgt. Greg Wade presented the Georgia Department of Natural Resources award to Cpl. Drew Beverly.

“As a game warden, his invaluable contributions to our department and to the state serve as a testament to the positive impact that one dedicated individual can have on their community,” said Wade. “I’m confident that Drew’s achievements and his character align perfectly with the spirit of the awards he’s earned during his career.”

♦ SFC John VanLandingham presented the Georgia Department of Public Safety (State Patrol) Post 12 award to Trooper First Class I Damien Serrata.

“He maintains a deep love and a devotion to the City of Moultrie. He lives here in the community. He loves his community. He works hard for her,” said VanLandingham. “He’s a very intuitive trooper in all that he does. Without being asked to do details, he always volunteers. … I really appreciate that.”