Greater Washington Law Enforcement Lauded For Fight Against Drunk Driving
25th ANNIVERSARY EVENT HONORS LOCAL POLICE IN FIGHT AGAINST DUI
Washington, DC, December 16 — Sixteen (16) Washington-metropolitan area police officers were cited today for their “outstanding commitment in the fight against drunk driving in Greater Washington” and presented with the area’s 25th-anniversary “Law Enforcement Awards of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention.”
Bestowed this morning at a regional ceremony held in McLean, Virginia, the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) presented its 2022 Law Enforcement Awards to:
Officer Michael Raines City of Alexandria Police Department
Officer Kyrien Clark Arlington County Police Department
Officer Ashley Kumar Arlington County Police Department
Officer Matthew Aguiniga City of Falls Church Police Department
PFC Zachary Davis City of Fairfax Police Department
PFC Bradley Minger Fairfax County Police Department
PFC Bryce Cooper Town of Herndon Police Department
Deputy First Class Daren Smith Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
Trooper First Class Nicholas Kline Maryland State Police
Officer Henry Gallagher Metropolitan Police Department (DC)
Corporal Joseph Ben Metropolitan Wash. Airports Authority Police
Sergeant Cody Fields Montgomery County Department of Police
Officer William J. Ward Prince William County Police Department
Officer Ryan Corrigan United States Capitol Police
Officer Kevin Meagher United States Park Police
Trooper Carlos Alejo Virginia Department of State Police
The annual awards, presented at a ceremony this morning at Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Tysons Galleria, were bestowed by WRAP in memory of Metropolitan Police Department Motor Patrol Officer Anthony W. Simms. Officer Simms, as a result of injuries sustained while on duty, lost his life to an impaired driver during Memorial Day weekend in 1996. WRAP’s 2022 Law Enforcement Awards were presented by Officer Simms’ widow, Lieutenant Pamela Simms, also formerly with the Metropolitan Police Department, along with NBC Washington’s Traffic Reporter Melissa Mollet. Today’s event speakers included Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and City of Fairfax Police Chief Erin Schaible. (The City of Fairfax Police Department co-hosted this morning’s event with WRAP.)
“This year’s awardees represent the front lines in Greater Washington’s continuing fight against drunk driving,” said Kurt Erickson, WRAP’s President. “Their collective effort to annually arrest and remove over 10,000 drunk drivers from Washington-metropolitan area roadways has undoubtedly saved lives.”
In addition to receiving the Law Enforcement Awards, each of the 2022 WRAP honorees also received a pair of complementary Washington Nationals tickets (courtesy of the Washington Nationals) and a $25 gift card to Glory Days Grill (courtesy of Glory Days Grill).
Sponsors of WRAP’s 2022 Law Enforcement Awards & Holiday Campaign Kick-Off included The Beer Institute, Breakthru Beverage Washington, D.C., Foundation of Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, GEICO, George Washington University Hospital, Glory Days Grill, Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics and Lyft.
Commemorating its 40th year in 2022 after being founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is a coalition of diverse interests using effective education, innovative programs and targeted advocacy to end alcohol-impaired driving and underage driving in the Washington, DC metro area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with historically keeping the metro-Washington area’s alcohol related traffic deaths lower than the national average. WRAP, however, may be best known to area residents via the organization’s popular free safe ride service for would-be drunk drivers, SoberRide®.
For more information, visit WRAP’s website www.wrap.org.
(WRAP’s holiday free safe ride service for would-be drunk drivers, SoberRide®, will operate nightly from 10:00 pm until 4:00 am between December 16, 2022 and January 1, 2023. During these evening hours, Washington-metropolitan area residents ages 21 and older celebrating with alcohol may download the Lyft app to their phones and enter the applicable code in the app’s ‘Promo’ section. During this campaign, there will be three different single use promo codes issued. Each code is valid for up to $15 off one ride taken home in Lyft’s Washington, D.C. coverage area. WRAP’s Holiday SoberRide® promo codes will be posted at 9:00 p.m. on December 16, December 23 and December 31 on www.SoberRide.com Limited quantities available. See www.SoberRide.com for more details.)