(OCEAN CITY, MD) — A trooper with the Maryland State Police Princess Anne Barrack was among those recognized on Sunday during an awards ceremony for their work to combat impaired driving in the state.
Trooper First Class Daniel J. Townsend, was awarded the Officer Noah Leotta Memorial Award during the 18th annual Impaired Driving Law Enforcement Awards ceremony held in Ocean City, Maryland. TFC Townsend is the fourth recipient of this special award, named after Officer Noah Leotta of the Montgomery County Police Department. Officer Leotta was struck and killed by a drunk driver in December 2015. Officer Leotta had been working a special DUI assignment the night of the crash.
The annual Impaired Driving Law Enforcement Awards, a joint effort of the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office (MHSO) and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, honored officers dedicated to eliminating impaired driving crashes, injuries and deaths. The awards ceremony recognized officers for DUI enforcement – including seven who made more than 100 arrests last year – and also thanked those who serve as a Drug Recognition Expert. In all, 131 law enforcement officers were honored at the ceremony.
TFC Townsend graduated from the Maryland State Police Academy in April 2016 and was immediately assigned to the Princess Anne Barrack. Since his assignment, TFC Townsend has excelled in the area of impaired driving enforcement.
With a total of 108 impaired driving arrests throughout his short career, TFC Townsend has been one of the most productive troopers at the barrack in terms of combating impaired driving. Every year since 2017, TFC Townsend has led the Princess Anne Barrack in impaired driving arrests.
In addition, in October 2017, TFC Townsend attended Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training in an attempt to further advance his skill level and knowledge of detecting impaired drivers. He has also assisted his shift partners, both subordinate and senior troopers alike, on multiple occasions by helping them detect impaired drivers as well.
Outside of his Maryland State Police duties, TFC Townsend enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2005 and continues to serve as a member of the National Guard, holding the rank of staff sergeant. Even in that role, he has worked to take impaired drivers off the street. In January of 2019, TFC Townsend received his United States Army Military Police Instructor National Certification. He has since utilized that certification, spending seven weeks in California teaching newly trained military police personnel as an impaired driving instructor.
Most recently, TFC Townsend attended the required training to become a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) in Maryland.
Along with TFC Townsend, dozens of troopers were also recognized for their efforts to combat impaired driving in Maryland. The following troopers were presented DUI awards as the top producing law enforcement officers in terms of DUI arrests in 2018 in Maryland:
Maryland State Police SPIDRE Team awardees
The following troopers received ACE Awards for not only qualifying for the DUI Award but for recording 100 or more DUI arrests in 2018:
Also recognized was TFC Gregory Bunger as one of those honored with a DRE (Drug Recognition Expert) Award. These awards were presented to the top officers as recognition for completing more than 15 DRE evaluations in 2018 in Maryland.
Over the past five years in Maryland, there have been more than 34,600 crashes involving drivers impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. Those crashes resulted in more than 800 deaths and 16,300 injuries.
CONTACT: Ron Snyder, Office of Media Communications – 410-653-4236
Trooper First Class Daniel J. Townsend, was awarded the Officer Noah Leotta Memorial Award during the 18th annual Impaired Driving Law Enforcement Awards ceremony held in Ocean City, Maryland. TFC Townsend is the fourth recipient of this special award, named after Officer Noah Leotta of the Montgomery County Police Department. Officer Leotta was struck and killed by a drunk driver in December 2015. Officer Leotta had been working a special DUI assignment the night of the crash.
The annual Impaired Driving Law Enforcement Awards, a joint effort of the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office (MHSO) and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, honored officers dedicated to eliminating impaired driving crashes, injuries and deaths. The awards ceremony recognized officers for DUI enforcement – including seven who made more than 100 arrests last year – and also thanked those who serve as a Drug Recognition Expert. In all, 131 law enforcement officers were honored at the ceremony.
TFC Townsend graduated from the Maryland State Police Academy in April 2016 and was immediately assigned to the Princess Anne Barrack. Since his assignment, TFC Townsend has excelled in the area of impaired driving enforcement.
With a total of 108 impaired driving arrests throughout his short career, TFC Townsend has been one of the most productive troopers at the barrack in terms of combating impaired driving. Every year since 2017, TFC Townsend has led the Princess Anne Barrack in impaired driving arrests.
In addition, in October 2017, TFC Townsend attended Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training in an attempt to further advance his skill level and knowledge of detecting impaired drivers. He has also assisted his shift partners, both subordinate and senior troopers alike, on multiple occasions by helping them detect impaired drivers as well.
Outside of his Maryland State Police duties, TFC Townsend enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2005 and continues to serve as a member of the National Guard, holding the rank of staff sergeant. Even in that role, he has worked to take impaired drivers off the street. In January of 2019, TFC Townsend received his United States Army Military Police Instructor National Certification. He has since utilized that certification, spending seven weeks in California teaching newly trained military police personnel as an impaired driving instructor.
Most recently, TFC Townsend attended the required training to become a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) in Maryland.
Along with TFC Townsend, dozens of troopers were also recognized for their efforts to combat impaired driving in Maryland. The following troopers were presented DUI awards as the top producing law enforcement officers in terms of DUI arrests in 2018 in Maryland:
- TFC Tyron Allen
- TFC Waldys Batista
- TFC Gregory Bunger
- Trooper Stephen Chrzanowski
- TFC Joshua Demoss
- TFC Christopher Ditoto
- Trooper Alexander Edwards
- Trooper Joseph Ekani
- Trooper Michael Fair
- TFC Lyle German
- TFC Jonathan Greathouse
- TFC John Griffin III
- TFC Jack Hadley
- TFC Nicholas Hager
- TFC Kyle Jeans
- TFC Sebi John
- Trooper Kashef Khan
- TFC Sean Koontz
- TFC William Laham
- TFC Kevin Lane
- TFC Brock Marquis
- TFC Richard Maszarose
- TFC Austin Mueller
- Trooper Paul Neid
- TFC Jaroslaw Oleksak
- TFC Adam Oleyar
- TFC Daniel Phillips
- TFC Quincy Pinkney
- TFC Francisco Ruiz
- TFC David Shiveler
- TFC Adam Siemek
- TFC Brandon Skrodinsky
- TFC Sean Slattery
- Master Trooper William Talbert
- TFC Adam Thatcher
- TFC Charles Tittle
- TFC Daniel Townsend
- Trooper Stephan Williams
- TFC Daniel Wynne
- Trooper Andrew Yocum
- TFC Donte Young
- TFC Mary Frances Zentkovich
Maryland State Police SPIDRE Team awardees
- TFC Brian Anderson
- TFC Samuel Jackson
- Caitlyn Naples
- John Sallon
The following troopers received ACE Awards for not only qualifying for the DUI Award but for recording 100 or more DUI arrests in 2018:
- TFC Joshua Begg
- Trooper Michael McGee (SPIDRE Team)
- TFC Anthony Wallace (SPIDRE Team)
Also recognized was TFC Gregory Bunger as one of those honored with a DRE (Drug Recognition Expert) Award. These awards were presented to the top officers as recognition for completing more than 15 DRE evaluations in 2018 in Maryland.
Over the past five years in Maryland, there have been more than 34,600 crashes involving drivers impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. Those crashes resulted in more than 800 deaths and 16,300 injuries.
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CONTACT: Ron Snyder, Office of Media Communications – 410-653-4236