Dunwoody Police Achievement Awards

***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *****

Incident:       Dunwoody Police Achievement Awards

Date:            January 25, 2017

Location:      Dunwoody, GA    

The entire staff of the Dunwoody Police Department is committed to serving the citizens of Dunwoody throughout the year.  We appreciate the continued support of our community and know that without our community’s support, our job would be much more difficult.  

“Our staff is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to the citizens in our community and our award recipients reflect that dedication.  Every call is important to us and every incident is a priority”, said Chief Billy Grogan. 

The Dunwoody Police Department recently recognized 13 members of the department for their outstanding achievements in 2016.  They were recognized as follows:

Officer of the Year (4th Quarter Winner):  Officer James “J.B.” Tate

Officer Tate's most notable achievement during 2016 was his tireless efforts to research, propose, and implement a 40th Anniversary Commemoration and Memorial of the death of Officer Thomas S. Atkisson.  Officer Atkisson was a DeKalb County police officer who was killed in the line of duty on December 14, 1976 while patrolling an area which is now part of the City of Dunwoody.  As a result of Officer Tate's efforts, Dunwoody's Mayor and City Council named the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center West as the Thomas S. Atkisson Memorial Intersection with a permanently affixed street sign.  Officer Atkisson's family, friends and former coworkers were invited to the December 12, 2016 City Council Meeting, where the officer's widow was presented a memorial plaque commemorating her late husband. An additional memorial plaque is now permanently displayed in DPD's front lobby in the officer's honor. Officer Atkisson is the only officer in the City of Dunwoody who has died in the line of duty.

Employee of the Year (1st Quarter Winner):  PSR Vanessa Ollee

Police Service Representative Ollee was recognized for showing exceptional talent, enthusiasm, commitment and a great attitude during 2016.  She displays genuineness in dealing with others, and goes above and beyond to take care of those with whom she works.  Vanessa has also come in on her days off to help with fingerprinting and to cover for other shifts as needed.

Marksman of the Year: Officer Michael Cheek

Officer Cheek had the highest firearms qualification score during the department’s Spring Firearms training. 

Top Cop Competition Winner: Officer Zach Woodburn

Top Cop is multi-discipline competition which includes physical fitness, mental aptitude, and shooting drills. Officer Woodburn had the fastest overall time during the competition in 2016.

Rising Star of the Year: Officer Yaakov Baum

The Rising Star award is presented to an officer that has less than two years of service with the Dunwoody Police Department and exemplifies outstanding qualities, characteristics, and effectiveness as a new officer. 

Chief’s Award: Sergeant Robert Parsons

Sergeant Parsons was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the department and the citizens of Dunwoody through his successful advocacy and implementation of the department's Naloxone/Narcan program. Officers have saved five lives through the use of Naloxone/Narcan since the program was implemented.

Chief’s Award: Officer Michael Cheek

Officer Cheek was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the department and the citizens of Dunwoody through the development and implementation of The Griffin Project.  The Griffin Project is an outreach effort aimed at creating successful interactions between law enforcement and children with special needs.

Officer of Second Quarter: Officer Nathan Berryman

Officer Berryman was recognized as Officer of the Second Quarter for his lifesaving act during a medical call. Officer Berryman deployed the lifesaving drug Naloxone and was able to revive a young man that was suffering from a suspected heroin overdose.

Employee of the Second Quarter: Records Supervisor Kristin Adkins

During the second quarter, Kristin Adkins performed above and beyond expectations. Her most prestigious accomplishment was her leading the department through a comprehensive and arduous GCIC auditing process. The department received a passing score thanks to Kristin's diligent efforts. Additionally, she spearheaded the challenging and tedious task of purging the department's Records room. Kristin's efforts with this project will increase organization and efficiency for the Administration division.

Officer of the Third Quarter: Officer Michael Cheek

Officer Cheek had an exceptional third quarter and truly distinguished himself during this period. Officer Cheek consistently goes the extra mile with his crime scene processing. His skills and efforts resulted in the identification of an entering auto suspect in September of 2016. Officer Cheek's most notable arrest during the third quarter was when he was dispatched to a simple theft report at a local hotel. Through hard work and good investigative skills, Officer Cheek uncovered a methamphetamine sales operation in another hotel room that led to a trafficking level seizure of illegal drugs and the arrest of two drug dealers.

Employee of Third Quarter: Property and Evidence Tech Katharine “KC” Tate

Mrs. Tate's most notable effort was spearheading the Hispanic Outreach event, which was held in August. As a result of her and her volunteers' efforts, 27 car seats were inspected and deemed unsafe. These seats were replaced with new seats, which Mrs. Tate secured through a public donation. Additionally, Mrs. Tate has been very passionate about the child car seat inspection program and she is a big part of the reason why the program is so popular and successful.  Mrs. Tate has assisted behind the scenes with several of our most popular community outreach programs. She has established successful working relationships with several businesses and their staff. This has, in turn, created opportunities for the department to expand our community relations effort. She can be counted on time after time to step in at a moment's notice to fill in or help out.

Employee of the Fourth Quarter: Police Service Representative Dolores Rivera

PSR Rivera has quickly adapted to the Dunwoody Police culture and added to the department's charisma. Besides being naturally personable, PSR Rivera consistently demonstrates a strong work ethic. PSR Rivera routinely volunteers to fill in for PSR assignments when other representatives and civilians cannot. In a short time with the department, she has become an invaluable member of the DPD team.

Medal of Meritorious Service:          

The Medal of Meritorious Service is awarded to an officer for outstanding performance during a lifesaving event. There were four recipients of this award in 2016.

Sergeant Jason Dove & Officer Nathan Berryman

Sergeant Dove and Officer Berryman responded to a possible drug overdose. Upon arriving on scene, both officers observed two subjects who were unconscious, unresponsive, and barely breathing as a result of a suspected heroin overdose.  After assessing each patient, the officers immediately administered a dose of Naloxone in the patient’s thigh. While observing both patients, Sergeant Dove's patient started to regain consciousness but Officer Berryman's patient remained unresponsive with a shallow pulse and undetectable breathing. After approximately two minutes, Officer Berryman administered a second dose of Naloxone to his patient at which time the subject started to breathe better on his own as he regained consciousness.  Fire rescue and EMS personnel arrived on scene to transport both patients to a local hospital for further treatment. Both subjects regained full consciousness and are expected to fully recover.

Officer Guinevere Wiencek & Officer Michael Vermillion

Officer Wiencek and Officer Vermillion responded to a possible drug overdose. Both Officers arrived on scene and observed a 25 year old male unconscious with labored breathing on the bathroom floor with evidence to support that he was suffering from a heroin overdose.  The officers quickly assessed the medical emergency and deployed a Naloxone auto-injector on the victim. After observing the victim and noticing no improvement in condition additional doses of Naloxone were administered.  Approximately five minutes after the fourth dose the victim sat straight up and regained consciousness. The victim was taken to a local hospital and is expected to fully recover.

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