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Clarke County trooper honored The Alabama Retail Association presented Alabama State Trooper Darrell Linder with the 2007 "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year," or LEO Award. A panel of law enforcement officers, former LEO winners and retailers chose Linder from a group of 20 fellow law enforcement officers nominated from throughout the state. A superior from local police departments, sheriff's offices, state trooper offices or other law enforcement agencies nominated each officer. Cpl. Roy B. "Brad" Napp with the Grove Hill Post of the Highway Patrol Division of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, nominated Linder. Napp says the 35-year-old Linder is the type trooper who "is consistently sought by other troopers for advice and direction." Whether it is saving the life of drowning children, putting together evidence for vehicular homicide or manslaughter cases, standing in when his corporal is out of the office or training other troopers, this state trooper does an "exemplary" job, Napp said. Trooper Linder of Jackson, based out of the Department of Public Safety's Grove Hill post, is a traffic homicide investigator and field training officer. He has been a trooper for six years and served for eight years as an officer with the Jackson Police Department. In the past year, he has clearly demonstrated his dedication to the service, support and safety of the citizens he protects daily. On March 8, Linder, who routinely investigates deaths, helped save two lives. He just happened to be in the area, and responded to a Jackson Police Department call, arriving first at a home day care, where two boys had fallen into a backyard pool. He immediately began CPR on one boy who already had been pulled from the pool. Once that child was taking slow breaths, he moved to assist a Jackson police officer who had begun CPR on the second child. The trooper continued chest compressions while ambulance personnel used breathing bags to breathe for the second child. Both children survived. "Linder made the decision to respond to a call that wasn't even his call," said Napp. "Without hesitation, he took charge of the situation." The LEO Award was presented prior to the ARA Annual Meeting today at the Montgomery Country Club. Trooper Linder received a crystal trophy and a roster plaque to hang at the Grove Hill trooper post until the 2008 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year is named. ARA also made a $1,000 donation in his name to the River Region Advisory Council of Kid One Transport, a Homewood-based nonprofit that gives children and expectant mothers free rides to nonemergency medical appointments.
Linder's wife, Nikki, along with his superior officers from the Grove Hill and Evergreen state trooper posts and Highway Patrol Division were on hand to see him receive his award.
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