By DAN KEGLEY/Staff
Smyth County Sheriff’s Office took second place in its size division in The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police 2009 Virginia Law Enforcement Challenge, and a deputy was selected as the top school resource officer.
“Wythe County was first, we were second and Isle of Wight was third,” said SCSO Capt. Mike Hounshell.
Ernie Atwell was honored as School Resource Officer of the Year.
“I was really proud of the guys,” said Sheriff David Bradley.
A Law Enforcement Challenge release said the program “promotes professionalism in traffic safety enforcement and encourages agencies to share best practices and programs with each other.”
The release said competition “was very stiff this year due to the record level of participation and the judges were very impressed with the submissions. Four judges spent three long days carefully reviewing the entries and providing feedback to the agencies that they can use when putting together their 2010 submissions. The Virginia Highway Safety Committee certified the results of the judging.”
Atwell is the resource officer at Chilhowie High, Middle and Primary schools. He was unavailable Tuesday for comment.
dkegley@wythenews.com
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