Greater Washington Law Enforcement Lauded for Fight Against Drunk Driving

28th ANNIVERSARY EVENT HONORS LOCAL POLICE IN FIGHT AGAINST DUI

Tysons, VA, December 12 — 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 28th-anniversary “Law Enforcement Awards of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention.”

Bestowed this morning at a regional ceremony held in Chevy Chase, Maryland, the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) presented its 2025 Law Enforcement Awards to:

  • Alexandria Police Department                                                Officer Jeff Sun
  • Arlington County Police Department                                       Officer Megan Hendrick
  • City of Fairfax Police Department                                           PFC Jared Buehre
  • City of Falls Church Police Department                                  Officer Shivanshu Karanwal
  • Fairfax County Police Department                                          PFC Joseph Fernandez
  • Gaithersburg Police Department                                            Officer Michael Camp
  • Town of Herndon Police Department                                     Corporal Neil Simpson
  • Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office                                           Deputy First Class Stephen Phelps
  • Maryland State Police                                                          Trooper First Class Bryce Thienhom
  • Metropolitan Police Department (DC)                                     Sergeant Terry Thorne
  • Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police                  Corporal Christopher Conboy
  • Montgomery County Police Department                                 Officer Addison White
  • Prince George’s County Police Department                            Officer Malik Cochran
  • Prince William County Police Department                              Officer Celine Wykowski
  • United States Capitol Police                                                 Officer Seth Carll
  • United States Park Police                                                     Officer Michael Millin
  • Virginia State Police                                                             Trooper Collin G. Kashmer

The annual awards, presented at a ceremony this morning at Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Chevy Chase Pavillion, 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 Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada (the Montgomery County 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 over 8,000 drunk drivers from Washington-metropolitan area roadways has undoubtedly saved lives.”

In addition to receiving the Law Enforcement Awards, each of the 2025 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 2025 Law Enforcement Awards & Holiday Campaign Kick-Off included the Beer Institute, Breakthru Beverage Group, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, George Washington University Hospital, Glory Days Grill, Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics, Lyft, Safety and Advocacy For Empowerment (SAFE) 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 19, 2025 and January 1, 2026. 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 two 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 19 and December 31 on www.SoberRide.com  Limited quantities available. See www.SoberRide.com for more details.)