Greater Washington Law Enforcement Lauded for Fight Against Drunk Driving
27th ANNIVERSARY EVENT HONORS LOCAL POLICE IN FIGHT AGAINST DUI
Tysons, VA, December 13 — Seventeen (17) 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 27th-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 2024 Law Enforcement Awards to:
Officer Whitney Watts-Cerrato Alexandria Police Department
Corporal Kellsey Costello-Mays Arlington County Police Department
Officer Sergeant Matthew Parker City of Falls Church Police Department
PFC Matthew Aguiniga City of Falls Church Police Department
PFC Justin Yorkdale Fairfax County Police Department
PFC Neil Simpson Town of Herndon Police Department
Deputy First Class Samuel Zinkgraf Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
TFC Logan Speak Maryland State Police
Officer Hakim Bouaichi Metropolitan Police Department
Corporal Joshua Morris Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Corporal Ian Pharoah Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Sergeant Patrick Kepp Montgomery County Police Department
Corporal Brendan Hughes Prince George’s County Police Department
Officer Godson Vondee Prince William County Police Department
Officer Seth Carll United States Capitol Police
Officer Christian Callahan United States Park Police
Trooper Collin Kashmer Virginia 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. Speakers at today’s event included Attorney General of Virginia Jason Miyares, City of Falls Church Police Chief (the Falls Church Police Department co-hosted this morning’s event with WRAP) and event Master of Ceremonies, NBC Washington Anchor / Reporter Melissa Mollet, amongst others.
“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 nearly 9,000 drunk drivers from Washington-metropolitan area roadways has undoubtedly saved lives.”
In addition to receiving the Law Enforcement Awards, each of the 2024 honorees also received a pair of complementary Washington National tickets (courtesy of the Washington Nationals) and a $ 30 gift card to Glory Days Grill (courtesy of Glory Days Grill).
Sponsors of WRAP’s 2024 Law Enforcement Awards & Holiday Campaign Kick-Off included The Beer Institute, Breakthru Beverage Washington, D.C., Foundation of Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, George Washington University Hospital, Glory Days Grill, Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics, Lyft and State Farm.
Founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is an award-winning public-private partnership working to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington-metropolitan area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with helping to keep the annual percentage of metro-Washington traffic deaths involving alcohol-impaired driving historically lower than the national average. WRAP, however, may best be known to area residents via the organization’s popular free safe ride service to prevent drunk driving, 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 13, 2024 and January 1, 2025. 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 13, December 20 and December 31 on www.SoberRide.com Limited quantities available. See www.SoberRide.com for more details.)