The Villa Rica Police Department was one of more than 25 different law enforcement agencies honored Wednesday (October 5, 2016) during the 16th Annual Governor’s Challenge Awards Program, hosted by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety at the Macon Centreplex.
An annual recognition program for law enforcement agencies of all sizes from all over the state, the program features awards in seven different categories based on department size as well as several other specialty categories and a grand prize, the Governor’s Cup, given to the top performing department among all categories. The Villa Rica Police Department took 2nd Place honors for agencies with 26-50 officers.
Designed to award outstanding achievements in highway safety enforcement and education, the awards recognize agencies for the approach and effectiveness of their overall highway safety programs.
“These departments work so hard all year and we’re proud to recognize their achievements,” GOHS Director Harris Blackwood said. “No matter how big or small each department, they’ve all contributed to keeping Georgia motorists safe and we hope to keep seeing them at the Governor’s Challenge awards for years to come.”
Agencies are evaluated not just for enforcement initiatives, but for innovative problem-solving in their communities, using public information activities, and creating departmental policies that support their traffic enforcement campaign efforts.
Ten of the winning agencies were then chosen randomly to compete for a new 2016 Dodge Charger Pursuit police vehicle. Villa Rica Police Sgt. Hunter Ethredge had the key that turned on the specialty light bar to win the coveted Governor’s Challenge car for the department. Congratulations! We Are VR!
VIDEO: https://goo.gl/XvKpZB
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