LT. JACKSON NOMINATED FOR OFFICER OF THE YEAR ........................
Date Posted:8/15/06

GCSO's Lt. Levon Jackson was among this years nominees. Photo by Alice Dupont

Officer Mike Fish of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was named the Gadsden County Officer of the Year Tuesday during the Law Enforcement Luncheon.

The event is sponsored annually by the Quincy Kiwanis Club, Quincy Pilot Club and the Quincy Rotary Club. "It has been an honor and a privilege working in Gadsden County. I wish I could cut this up and give everyone of them (fellow nominees) a piece," Fish said. Other nominees were: Officer Troy Gilyard, Quincy Police Department; Lt. Levon Jackson, Gadsden County Sheriff's Office; Trooper Michael Jason King, Florida Highway Patrol; and Lt. John Ulm, Havana Police Department. Fish, a 12-year veteran of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was nominated by Lt. Larry Parker. He has been recognized for his proactive approach to educating the public and is active in the area of boating safety, illegal night hunting and federal waterfowl enforcement. He also teaches boating safety in Gadsden County public schools. Officer Fish served in the hurricane-damaged areas of Florida and Mississippi.

Officer Gilyard was nominated by Chief of Police Gerald McSwain who cited Gilyard's 69 felony violation cases, 82 percent of which were solved, and the recovery of $69,000 in property. He has investigated a wide variety of cases including burglaries, fraud, grand theft, scams, computer fraud, city utility theft, meter tampering, robbery, and sexual battery.

Trooper King is a certified first aid instructor and was chosen recently as the Quincy District Trooper of the Month. He received a commendation from the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office for assisting with a murder investigation in the Gretna area that resulted in the arrests of three suspects.

Sheriff Young nominated Lt. Jackson for his exceptional leadership abilities, his love of country and community, and his willingness to go the extra mile. Jackson, who was injured in the line of duty in 1997, underwent extensive rehabilitation.

Jim Murdaugh, director of the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy, was the guest speaker at the luncheon. Having been the recipient of several Officer of the Year awards himself, Murdaugh said all of the nominees should be extremely proud of themselves. "The trust put in you by your fellow officers for such an honor indicates how much you are thought of by them," he said. In his address Murdaugh said the badge that each law enforcement officer wears is a testimony to their lives, and presented an acronym that supported this. "'B' is for bravery. We expect our officers to be brave, but in most academy classes we will have someone who knows it (law enforcement) is not for them," he said. "'A' is for attitude. None of the people here want an officer with a bad attitude. 'D' is for determination. The best example I can think of is Sheriff Morris Young opening up those cold case files. 'G' is for God. There has to be a belief in a higher power. 'E' is for ethics. You won't want your officer to have to think about right or wrong." He went on to say, "If you take out the letters 'G' and 'E,' you have the word 'bad' and that's a bad officer and a name that none of us wish to have. A good officer must have God and ethics." "All of these men are to be commended for the work that they do on our behalf," said Caroline Fallis, president of the Quincy Pilot Club, who presented the plaque to Fish and certificates to the other nominees.