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The University of North Georgia (¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ) Police Department honored its own officers and a few fellow university employees March 27 for their work to keep the school's campuses safe throughout the past year.

"It's always a good opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding work that our officers do day in and day out," ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ Police Chief Justin Gaines said. "Otherwise no one would know. If we don't stop to exemplify their actions and their hard work, it's one of those things that would go thankless."

Capt. Dennis Dorsey earned the Award of Merit. Rob Cherveny, chief information security officer; Cole Edgar, information security operations manager; and Dillon Hutchinson, central dispatch coordinator, were also honored for their work helping the department.

Cherveny was one of two people to take the oath of office for ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ Police at the event after cross-training to earn police certification. Gaines said Cherveny's new certification coupled with his technical expertise means the university can more quickly investigate online-based cases.

Gaines emphasized the importance of the campus community's role in helping ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ Police do its job well so ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ's campuses can remain safe.

Dorsey, who has worked at ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ for four years following 20 years as a Winder, Georgia, police officer, expressed gratitude for the honor.

"A pat on the back is always nice. I like that these younger guys get to see it because it makes them want to do their job that much better," Dorsey said. "All of these guys probably did something in the past year that deserves recognition. I'm looking forward to having more events like this and seeing some of the younger guys get recognized."

Other award winners included:

• Police Officer of the Year: Rusty Myers
• Communications Officer of the Year: Anita Bookmiller
• New Police Officer of the Year: Jason Lingerfelt
• New Communications Officer of the Year: Kayla Williams
• Police Commendation Award: Capt. Jayson Yarbrough, Capt. James Wright

Promotions noted at the meeting were:

• Jayson Yarbrough from sergeant to captain (Gainesville)
• Trent McGuffey from officer to sergeant (Dahlonega)
• John Thompson from officer (Cumming) to sergeant (Gainesville)

In addition to Cherveny, the other officer to take the oath was Cody Chambers.

Positioned in the fastest-growing region of the state, the University of North Georgia comprises five campuses united by a single mission focused on academic excellence and academic and co-curricular programs that develop students into leaders for a diverse and global society. ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ is a ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ leadership institution and, as one of only six senior military colleges in the nation, is The Military College of Georgia. With more than 20,000 students, ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ offers more than 100 programs of study ranging from certificate and associate degrees to professional doctoral programs.