Poplar Bluff Elks Lodge Post 2452 recognized this year’s outstanding law enforcement officers at their 34th Annual Law and Order Night on Saturday.
The Elks Officer of the Year for 2021 is Corp. Brett Campbell, who serves in the Butler County Sheriff’s Department. Campbell was nominated by Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs for his heroism in an incident last year.
Responding to a reported sexual assault, Campbell was assisted by four EMS professionals inside the residence. While on the scene, several gunshots rang out. Campbell confronted the armed suspect with the proper force and saved the lives of the EMS workers and himself, according to the information presented during the ceremony.
Afterwards, the EMS professionals, who work unarmed, expressed their gratitude to Campbell for his bravery. One of them stated, “Please let the deputy know how grateful we are — he saved our lives.”
Danny Whiteley, chief of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, presented the city’s Officer of the Year award to Detective Dan Mustain, who was recognized in particular for his outstanding work on the department’s Facebook page, which includes videos that have led to a number of arrests.
Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs also recognized several other officers from his department for outstanding service.
Kaleb Bridges was awarded the Donwell Clark Award for Officer of the Year. Clark was a longtime detective and investigator for both the Poplar Bluff police and Butler County sheriff.
Francisco Vega Jr. and Robert Ice III were both recognized as Corrections Officers of the Year for their work in the Butler County jail in stopping contraband items among the inmates.
Faith McCorkle, an emergency/911 operator, was awarded the Communications Officer of the Year.
Capt. Phil Gregory, the commander for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E, presented three awards.
Benjamin Towe was awarded Commercial Vehicle Officer of the Year along with David Haggett, who was recognized as Trooper of the Year.
Scott Johnston was awarded SEMO Drug Task Force Officer of the Year. Gregory cited Johnston as a tireless officer whom anyone else in law enforcement could always count on for help and support.
Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor recognized his colleague, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Matt Michel, for dedicated and outstanding contributions, particularly for his work in pursuing convictions in domestic violence cases.
Ripley County Sheriff Mike Barton presented the Officer of the Year award to Joey Bruner for dedicated and outstanding contributions to the citizens of Ripley County.
From Missouri Probation and Parole District 25, James Berry presented two of his colleagues with awards of distinction. Cheryl Hicks was awarded Officer of the Year, and Allison Williams, institutional activities coordinator, was recognized as Support Staff of the Year.
Travis Hutchison from Security One presented two awards to bailiffs from the Municipal Court to Fred Pollard and Letitia Pollard, citing them both as excellent officers who could always be counted upon.
Donnie Trout, the “exalted ruler” of the lodge, was the emcee and host of the event. Trout is a retired detective and part-time investigator for the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E Color Guard posted colors of U.S. and Missouri state flags, and the invocation was spoken by Bishop Ron Webb of Mt. Calvary Powerhouse Church.
The keynote speaker for the event was Colin Dickey, associate special agent in charge of the St. Louis division of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Dickey began his career at age 23 as special agent in the Chicago field office in 2004. In 2018, he served for three years in Bogota, Columbia, working to stop drug trafficking from some of the world’s largest and most dangerous drug cartels.
Serving in the St. Louis office since April 2021, Dickey’s role, in his own words, is to help “investigate the world’s biggest, baddest drug dealers and money launderers.”
“We target drug networks and organizations to seize drugs, money, and guns and get them off the streets,” he said.
“We chase the money to go after their assets and hit them where it hurts.”
The St. Louis division supervises eight enforcement groups, including the one in Southeast Missouri.
Dickey said the current threats and trends in eastern Missouri were mainly the proliferation of counterfeit pill distribution, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
He said more of these drugs were seized in the past year, but the nation has also seen a dramatic number of overdoses and deaths.
In the past year nationally, there have been about 105,000 drug overdose deaths, according to the information presented. Of these, 65% were from fentanyl overdoses. By comparison, there have been about 20,000 gun homicide deaths and 40,000 vehicle-related deaths in the same time period.
Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin, law enforcement shared. The prescribed dose is only two milligrams, so a small amount of fentanyl can be lethal. Drug dealers are putting fatal amounts of fentanyl in counterfeit pills that appear to be Oxycontin or Xanax. “One Pill Can Kill” is the DEA’s new awareness program.
Dickey cited “Operation Overdrive” as one of the DEA’s strategies for stopping overdoses and capturing the most violent drug criminals and bringing them to justice. This initiative is being carried out across 38 cities in 23 states.
The DEA has also selected April 30 as National Drug Take Back Day. People are encouraged to clear out old medications and turn them in anonymously for safe destruction. Locally, the Poplar Bluff Police Department will have local collection site.