Featured Officer
Archive: Summer 09 | Fall 09
DEPUTY JESSIE OW
ENS
Deputy Jessie Owens patrols the roads of Macon County and sends a very strong message to would-be impaired drivers…”Think again!” His commitment to nabbing impaired drivers has made him one of Illinois' top DUI officers of all time as he fast approaches the 1,000 DUI arrest milestone.
Jessie began his career in the Macon County Sheriff's Office in December 2004 and had stints with various law enforcement departments within Macon County in the four years previous. For four years of his nine total years in law enforcement, he has worked the midnight shift, choosing to work when most impaired driving crashes occur and the most impaired drivers are on the streets.
Since 2001, Jessie has made an astounding 804 DUI arrests, and his record of annual DUI arrests is very impressive tallying 385 total DUI arrests between 2001 and 2004, 79 arrests in 2005, 41 in 2006, 111 in 2007 and 173 in 2008. In January 2009, he made 15 DUI arrests. He has received awards for his outstanding DUI enforcement efforts from 2005 to 2007 from the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists and from Mothers Against Drunk Driving from 2001 to 2004. Deputy Owens works closely with his local MADD Chapter in Macon County.
Job well done, Deputy Jessie Owens!
DEPUTY J. P. MCNAMARA
On behalf of the Illinois Department of Transportation, congratulations to Deputy J. P. McNamara, on his upcoming retirement on March 31, 2009. The state of Illinois and,
especially Sangamon County, will miss his dedication to making our roadways safer for our citizens.
Deputy McNamara is well known for his commitment, strong work ethic and his aggressive enforcement and prosecution of DUI offenders. He started his career with the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office on May 5, 1976. During that time, he was assigned to all shifts in the patrol division, but from the beginning he took the initiative to focus on arresting impaired drivers during the “power shift”, working 7:00 pm to 4:00 am.
With the help from IDOT's DIU enforcement grants, Deputy McNamara had arrested thousands of drivers during his twenty year tenure. Averaging 222 DUI arrests a year, he has been recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.
We join the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office in wishing him well in his retirement. His efforts in Sangamon County have changed drinking habits, made drivers think before drinking and driving and he is responsible for saving countless lives. Thank you, Deputy J. P McNamara—you have made a difference.
Officer ADAM SHERMAN - Wheeling Police Department
In 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated 507, or 41 percent, of the 1,248 deaths on Illinois roads involved alcohol. An estimated 434 (35 percent) of those deaths involved a legally-intoxicated driver with a BAC of 0.08 or above.
The Illinois Department of Transportation's, Division of Traffic Safety is proud to recognize Officer Adam Sherman of the Wheeling Police Department for his dedication to lowering these statistics.
Officer Sherman has been with the Wheeling Police Department for three years. Assigned to the patrol division, he vigilantly pursues impaired drivers working the midnight shift during which an overwhelming number of alcohol-involved crashes occur in Illinois.
In 2008, he was awarded the Traffic Officer of the Year when he made 91 DUI arrests, 242 total arrests and issued 1,310 total citations. In addition to his patrol duties, Officer Sherman also assists with several alcohol education/awareness classes each year in the Wheeling community.
He has been recognized by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) for his outstanding dedication to ridding streets of impaired drivers. In his three years with the Wheeling PD, Officer Sherman has made over 135 DUI Arrests, 400 total arrests and has issued nearly 3,000 citations.
Keep up the great work, Officer Sherman. Your strong commitment is saving lives!
DUI Awards Program
The Illinois Department of Transportation's, Division of Traffic Safety (IDOT/DTS) “DUI Enforcement Award” program provides a continuing recognition system for officers who excel in arresting impaired drivers. Awards are presented to any police officer who has made at least 25 DUI arrests since the beginning of 2001. As an officer's DUI arrests accumulate, he or she will be rewarded with new awards that indicate the different levels the officer has achieved. IDOT/DTS is proud to recognize the officers who make our roads safer by aggressively enforcing DUI laws.
For information on how to nominate yourself or someone else, please contact:
Richard Allan
SILEC
Illinois Department of Transportation/Division of Traffic Safety
Local Law Enforcement DUI Liaison
Fax: (618) 277-1553
700 North 5th Street 2nd Floor
Belleville, IL 62221
Visit www.silec.org/duiaward.asp to view the top DUI cops in Illinois.
