Three UAPD Members Receive Officer of the Year Honors

Three UAPD Members Receive Officer of the Year Honors

Officer Rachel Grooms recognized as the UAPD 2018 Exchange Club Officer of the Year.

Two years ago, The University of Alabama Police Department initiated a hard push towards community policing – a philosophy where officers operate in the same area to create stronger bonds with people living and working in that area – which builds trust between officers and residents, and helps prevent crimes.

UAPD Chief John Hooks said the initiative has worked well, but one officer has championed it above all others: Rachel Grooms, who was selected as the UAPD 2018 Exchange Club Officer of the Year. The honor was presented Feb. 28 at the Indian Hills Country Club.

Every year the service organization holds Law Enforcement Appreciation Day to recognize outstanding first responders from UAPD, the Tuscaloosa Police Department, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and Northport Police Department.

“The hardest thing we, and any officer, has to do is provide a friendly, human face to the community while also having to be tough sometimes,” Hooks said. “There seems to be an immediate distrust of cops and a lot of us in Tuscaloosa are trying to overcome that and build trust back in the community.

“Officer Rachel Grooms is the epitome of what a community officer is. When we started this, Rachel took a particular area and took care of her community, she embraced them and they embraced her. She talked to them in non-stressed conditions, in non-punitive conditions while never losing sight of who she was as a protector.

“She just became a better servant.”

Grooms has served the UA community for more than six years and has more than a decade in total law enforcement experience. Hooks said during her career, she has served with honor and distinction as a patrol officer, SWAT operator, canine handler and community police officer.

Hooks said some of Grooms’ recent accomplishments include organizing the 9/11 Stair Climb Challenge at Coleman Coliseum in honor of fallen first responders, working with the news to demonstrate the role of community policing at UA, helping create a police training video for policing the deaf community, assisting with the UAPD Lip Sync Challenge video and teaching a women’s self-defense classes.

“Through her hard work and an unflinching desire to cultivate positive relationships, Officer Rachel Grooms has become an irreplaceable member of The University of Alabama Police Department,” Hooks said.

Billy Mason and Valerie Minor were named the 2018 Security Resources Officer of the Year and the 2018 Dispatcher of the Year, respectively.

In addition to Grooms being recognized as the Exchange Club Officer of the Year, UAPD has separately recognized two other officers as Dispatcher of the Year and Security Resources Officer of the Year.

“Our dispatchers and security resources do an important job but they just weren’t being recognized,” Hooks said. “It’s easy to say an officer did something heroic, but it’s not always the same as recognizing our dispatchers and security resources. So we decided to recognize them with an in-house award.”

Billy Mason was recognized as the 2018 Security Resources Officer of the Year.

Mason has years of knowledge in the security field, and has served the University community in a wide variety of ways from assisting motorists with disabled vehicles to volunteering for specialized shift assignments.

“He genuinely cares about the university community, carries himself professionally and has earned the respect of those who work with him on a daily basis,” Hooks said.

Valerie Minor was recognized as the 2018 Dispatcher of the Year.

Hooks said Minor is a consistent and diligent employee who prides herself on not ending a call until the customer is satisfied.

“Officer Minor has always been pretty amazing,” he said. “On multiple occasions she has calmed an initially aggravated caller. She is self-motivated to take on projects around the communications office to assist the division in running more smoothly, and she routinely seeks out training opportunities not just for herself, but for the division as a whole.”