Officers honored for DUI arrests

Five area police officers were honored Wednesday during an Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program awards ceremony as for taking drunk drivers off the street. From left are: Sheriff's Deputy Brian Mullinax, SC Highway Patrol Trooper 1st Class Brian Quinn, Gaffney PD Master Police Officer Michael Scruggs, and Blacksburg PD Sgt. Pete McBride. Not pictured is Sgt. Todd Parker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. Five area police officers were honored Wednesday by the Cherokee County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for keeping Cherokee County motorists safe by taking drunk drivers off the streets.

Combined, the five officers recognized as the best of the best from the four police agencies that protect Cherokee County were estimated to have arrested about 200 drunk drivers in the past year. Three of the five police officers have proven they're quite good at the job, too, as they were repeat winners of the annual award.

Sgt. Todd Parker and Deputy Brian Mullinax of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, who also shared top DUI arrest honors last year, were credited by Sheriff Bill Blanton with the arrests of a combined 93 drunk or impaired drivers in the past year. So close were their arrest totals, Blanton submitted both of their names to the Cherokee County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission for consideration of the annual honors.

Trooper 1st Class Brian Quinn led members of Post A of the South Carolina Highway Patrol with the arrest of 45 drunk or impaired drivers. Master Police Office Michael Scruggs from the Gaffney Police Department was a repeat winner of the top honor from his department, having also tallied the highest rate of DUI arrests last year. Sgt. Peter McBride of the Blacksburg Police Department received top honors among his department for the removal of drunk drivers from the streets of Blacksburg as well.

The annual award ceremony is not a competition, even though it's based on individual performances.

"We cannot forget what this is all about," said Capt. Mark Wright of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, who presented the award to Trooper Quinn. "It's about saving lives."

Wright offered some sobering statistics that about 45,000 people "like you and me" die on the nation's highways each year. About 860 of those deaths occurred in South Carolina as of the most recent count, which is short of the typical average. By taking drunk drivers off the streets, you make other people safer.

"That's what this is all about," Wright said of honoring the officers, "the recognition of what these guys do."

Another sobering statistic, the 45 DUI arrests made by Trooper Quinn represented just a portion of the 577 DUI arrests made by Post A this year.

"It's hard to describe in words the work and effort you all do," the officers were told by Robert Strait, deputy director and treatment director for the Cherokee County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.