A Jefferson City police officer was given the top award during a ceremony Wednesday night recognizing law officers from across Mid-Missouri who have gone the extra mile in the effort to keep drunk drivers off the road.
Heroes for Heroes is a program done by the Central Missouri Mothers Against Drunk Driving Chapter. It recognizes area law enforcement officers for their work to reduce drunken driving or for other drug enforcement.
JCPD Officer Shawn Dumsday was honored with the Duane David Pace Memorial Award for his fourth year of "outstanding work stopping impaired driving on local roadways."
Robbie Pace-Cartwright is the volunteer leader for MADD Central Missouri and said Dumsday leads the JCPD in impaired driving arrests and has a total of 658 hours for the year, working on his days off doing drunk driving enforcement details.
"He (Dumsday) went to school with my brother in California, and he will tell you, knowing my brother was killed by a drunk driver, he lost a friend," Pace-Cartwright said. "He's a great guy."
Pace-Cartwright was referring to her brother, Duane Pace, who was killed by a drunk driver May 13, 2002, while performing maintenance and sign work for MoDOT in Republic.
Along with Pace, Dumsday said he has lost two other people close to him to drunken driving accidents.
"I lost my best friend in seventh grade, and while I was in college, I lost another friend. And that's why I'm so passionate about preventing drunk driving crashes," Dumsday said. "It is personal to me. I've arrested several good friends for DWI. I'm not mad at them, but I want the public to be safe."
Cole County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Eric Gottfried said he appreciates the recognition, but he feels he's just doing his job when he does drunk driving enforcement.
"I'm serving the community," Gottfried said. "I live here and I want it to be safe just like everyone else. I don't think it's something extraordinary. It's what you're supposed to do everyday."
Law enforcement officers who were honored Wednesday night at West Ridge Event Center in Centertown included:
- Deputy Jared Dotson - Boone County Sheriff's Department
- Sgt. Donald Dame - Callaway County Sheriff's Department
- Officer Coltin McGowan - Holts Summit Police Department
- Officer Brian Jackson - Fulton Police Department
- Corporal Evan Meyer - Lake Ozark Police Department
- Officer Samuel Hoyle - Lincoln University Police Department
- Deputy Weston Browner - Miller County Sheriff's Department
- Cpl. Morgan Patterson - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Cole County
- Trooper Grant Ayres - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Boone County
- Trooper Timothy Fick - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Camden/Miller counties
- Trooper Catlynn Newbold - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Camden/Miller counties
- Trooper Allison Enderle - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Morgan/Moniteau counties
- Cpl. William Surface - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Morgan/Moniteau counties
- Trooper Andrew O'Brien - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Osage County
- Sgt. Ryan Thompson - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Callaway County
- Trooper Nolan Bax - Missouri Highway Patrol Troop F, Callaway County
MADD works with victims and their families to navigate the court system and deal with grief and loss. The organization also monitors courtrooms and annually reports on how individual courts and prosecutors are dealing with under-the-influence cases.
"I would like to say that MADD is not against alcohol, like most think," Pace-Cartwright said. "We are against impaired driving under the influence of any alcohol and/or drugs - illegal or legal. We want our officers to know they have an ally behind them. They have families, too, and risk their lives every day."