PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Coordinator Chris James has received the Employee of the Year award for 2010.
Dan Abbott earned the Volunteer of the Year award, and Scott Erickson was named Search and Rescue Volunteer of the Year, the Sheriff’s Office announced.
The awards recognition dinner was Saturday.
James manages high priority and sensitive records that ensures the department does not fall into non-compliance or stray from the accepted best practices the law profession demands for an accredited law enforcement agency, Sheriff Bill Benedict said.
James is the driving force behind maintaining accreditation standards and managing public disclosure requests, Benedict said.
She is responsible for training certifications, policy revisions, internal investigative report management, record retention and destruction, the sheriff’s advisory board, employee indoctrination, the annual report and many other daily functions.
“Management of this vast array of time-sensitive and critical functions is a challenge that is critical to the efficient delivery of public safety services of the Sheriff’s Office,” Benedict said in the award citation.
“Chris’s organizational skill, meticulous attention to detail, determination and exceptional work ethic are a credit to Clallam County and reflect the highest standards of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Abbott received the award for his dedication and commitment to public safety, Benedict said.
Abbott operates the Diamond Point All Hazard Alert Broadcast Siren on the first Monday of each month.
He also is trained to activate other sirens if there is a long distance disruption to the system.
He co-authored and directed the Clallam County Incident Command System Round Robin exercise this year.
“He was always enthusiastic about volunteering his time and energy to produce a quality exercise that was highly instrumental in the building of partnerships between local, state, tribal and federal professional responders,” Benedict said.
“His courage to provide this innovative project was well received and has significantly enhanced inter-agency emergency preparedness on the Olympic Peninsula.”
Erickson was described as “a very motivating component of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.”
“Scott’s positive attitude and enthusiasm has been infectious towards the moral of the SAR Team,” Benedict said.
“Scott is a certified instructor with the National Search and Rescue Association and has brought his experience, leadership and skills to Clallam County Search and Rescue.”
In 2010, Erickson led the development and implementation of the Search and Rescue Basic Academy, a new program to orient and train search and rescue volunteers.
“Scott’s willingness to share his experience and knowledge with other SAR volunteers not only has been an asset to Clallam County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, but to all citizens of Clallam County,” Benedict said.
In recognition for their outstanding performance during their career, Sheriff’s Stars were awarded to retired corrections Sgt. Al Collins, Civil Deputy Deb Everts, retired Administrative Sgt. Monty Martin, Evidence Manager Annie Lowe and Sgt. Grant Lightfoot.
