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State Recognizes Several HPD Officers for Seatbelt Enforcement
For Immediate Release
Hattiesburg, MS ∙ March 11, 2011
Clap, clap, clap your hands and join Chief Frazier Bolton and members of the Hattiesburg Police Department as they extend a round of applause to several of their very own who were honored for their enforcement of seatbelt safety by state officials.
On Thursday, March 10, 2011, seven HPD officers, including: Vincent Brown, Derek Holmes, Stephon Richardson, Erick Sharpe, Kyle Stuart, Robert Tech and Chad Young, along with Mitchell Hudgins, a former HPD officer, were recognized by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety at its annual state-wide awards luncheon which recognizes the efforts of individual law enforcement officers in the enforcement of the state’s seatbelt laws.
For the third consecutive year, Officer Brown, a member of the traffic division, led the way with 627 seatbelt citations written during the 2010 calendar year. This placed him in the Gold Level category for issuing over 500 citations for seatbelts. Officers Hudgins (222), Sharpe (198), Stuart (155), Young (143), Holmes (109), Tech (106) and Richardson (101) received Bronze Level status for issuing between 100-249 seatbelt citations.
HPD Captain Ricky Myers accompanied the officers to the luncheon in Jackson and praised the officers’ hard work. “Because of guys like Brown, Holmes, Richardson, Sharpe, Stuart, Tech, Young and Hudgins, numerous lives have been saved. At HPD, our goal is for people to know that we are concerned about their safety and we want them to be buckled up; not just because it is the law, but because it sure can cost their lives if they don't buckle up,” said Myers.
According to Myers, the department in its entirety issued approximately over 2,600 seatbelt citations during the 2010 calendar year.
Again, congratulations to each of these officers on a job well done!
(Officers Chad Young, Vincent Brown, Robert Tech and Stephon Richardson)
