Shelton named top highway safety officer

Beckley Police Sgt. Frankie Shelton, center, is flanked by Sgt. Paul Blume, left, coordinator of the Southern Regional Highway Safety Program, and Bob Tipton, Governor's Highway Safety Program director. Shelton was honored Thursday for being named the Southern Regional Highway Safety Program's Officer of the Year. C.L. Garvin / The Register-Herald

Drivers often grumble and complain their days are ruined by police officers giving them traffic tickets.

But Thursday in Beckley, those officers were given a pat on the back and told their efforts save people's lives.

The Southern Regional Highway Safety Program had its Highway Safety Awards Banquet, which honored outstanding officers and agencies in the Governor's Highway Safety Program's Region 7: Raleigh, Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Webster, Pocahontas and Braxton counties.

Beckley police Sgt. Paul Blume, coordinator of the Southern Regional Highway Safety Program, said the banquet honors officers and agencies who have excelled at DUI enforcement and vehicle occupant protection - enforcing seatbelt and child restraint laws.

"It's our job to make the roadways safe," he said. "We make our entire community safer by doing that. What would people say if a family was wiped out by a drunk driver? They'd say, "Where was the police? Why didn't they do something about it?"

Beckley police Sgt. Frankie Shelton was named Officer of the Year - a highway safety honor bestowed on him several times at the departmental level.

Shelton took his trophy, posed for a photo with Blume and Governor's Highway Safety Program director Bob Tipton, then took his seat without addressing the crowd. Shelton had no idea he was receiving the award until it was presented.

"I say this year after year - Beckley is not the place to drink and drive," he said later. "As a police department, we are very aggressive and we have a zero tolerance policy on drunk drivers."

Beckley Police Chief Tim Deems said he was proud of both Shelton, who he said was "dedicated" to keeping drunk and impaired drivers off the streets, and all officers. The entire department was honored for its work in enforcing DUI and traffic laws.

"I'm certainly honored and proud of our men and women, and I am accepting this award for their outstanding service," Deems said. "Really, I am here accepting this on behalf of the officers out on the street 24 hours a day. This is their award. All have done an exceptional job."