Waynesville K-9 officer, dog receive excellence award

-Waynesville Police Department’s K-9, Levi, deserves a pat on the back.

Levi and his handler, Waynesville Officer Heath Plemmons, were recently presented the Criminalistic Excellence Award “in recognition of outstanding performance in the detection and prevention of crime” by the United States Police Canine Association.

The case of the quarter award was presented to Plemmons and Levi May 28 at the Waynesville Police Department based on an April 2009 case that involved an elderly man who had been missing from his Waynesville apartment for more than 12 hours when Levi found him.

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Bridge honors slain trooper

Two years from the day, and only a few miles from the location where N.C. State Trooper Shawn Blanton was killed while conducting a traffic stop, friends, family, town and county leaders and fellow law enforcement officers gathered Thursday to dedicate a bridge in memory of his service.

At the request of Canton town leaders and Haywood County Commissioners, the North Carolina Board of Transportation named the bridge at Exit 31 on Interstate 40 — mere feet from the spot where Blanton was slain — The Trooper Shawn Blanton Bridge.

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Springfield Officers honored for DUI arrests

Police officer Ryan Maddox, left, made 137 DUI arrests in 2009, while fellow officer Robert Jones made 129.Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register

Two Springfield police officers rank among the top 15 statewide for the number of DUI arrests made in 2009, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

However, the city’s drunken driving arrest numbers overall are on the decline.

AAIM, a citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunken drivers, asked 700 law enforcement agencies across Illinois to participate in the survey. Sixty-eight percent of them responded, including the Springfield Police Department.

Officer Ryan Maddox made 137 DUI arrests last year and ranked No. 11 in the state. Fellow officer Robert Jones netted 129 arrests, ranking No. 15.

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