2017 Governor’s Public Safety Awards PHOTO GALLERY
On December 7, 2017, Governor Nathan Deal recognized 13 public safety professionals for acts of heroism and two for outstanding contribution to profession at the Governor’s Public Safety Awards ceremony in Forsyth. The recipients were given medallions and their names were added to the Governor’s Public Safety Awards’ monument located inside the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.
“It is a privilege for me to pay tribute to these public safety professionals. Each of them is individually reflective of Georgia’s most admirable virtues,” said Deal.
The annual Governor’s Public Safety Awards program began in 1998 to recognize public safety officers who go above and beyond the call of duty to protect citizens and make significant contributions to the public safety profession at large.
The Governor’s Public Safety Awards program recognizes public safety professionals in the following two categories:
Acts of Heroism – Recognizes those who, within the previous year, performed an exceptional deed that resulted in saving lives and/or protecting property.
Outstanding Contribution to Profession – Recognizes those whose job performance had an overwhelming positive effect on the overall profession.
Personnel from each discipline of public safety, as well as state employees with public safety authority, are eligible to receive the award.
Recipients of the 2017 Governor’s Public Safety Awards are as follows:
Acts of Heroism Recipients:
- Jesse Suggs, Monroe County Emergency Services
- Eric Tully, Monroe County Emergency Services
- Patrick Gibbs, Department of Natural Resources LE Division
- Bobby White, Department of Natural Resources LE Division
- Eric Farris, Byron Police Department
- Wesley T. Griffis, Byron Police Department
- Michael Welch, Byron Police Department
- Peter Morris, Department of Corrections
- Daniel Lyle Wilkes, Department of Corrections
- Daniel Shane Burke, Sylvania Police Department
- Russell Prescott, Camden County Sheriff’s Office
Outstanding Contribution to Profession Recipients:
- Eddie Henderson, Department of Natural Resources LE Division
- Frank V. Rotondo, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police