The following nomination letter was written by Mark Watkins, Chief of Police for the Naples Police Department.

Lieutenant Drew Cox is in charge of the K-9 program at the Naples Police Department. As a small community police officer (population 3,000) our opportunities are limited as well as our resources. Lt. Cox has dedicated his time and often donated his time to our K-9 program. In the last 8 years Lt. Cox has acquired his certifications to train K-9 dogs and their handlers. Doing so has allowed the Naples Police Department to place three drug/patrol dogs patrolling our jurisdiction in a police department of only 7 officers as well as assisting other jurisdictions. Naples is able to cut the cost of purchasing and training a K-9 from approx. $18,000 to approx. $5,000 per dog saving the community money and giving them an unlimited and very valuable resource. Just recently Lt. Cox has acquired a bomb dog that I believe may be the first bomb dog outside of the Wasatch front and certainly the first in the Uintah Basin and arguably a huge resource for the Basin. This dog cost the City of Naples nothing.

Lt Cox also has another passion that when he’s not dog training he’s a valiant and very talented child abuse investigator. I, as a 28 year veteran of law enforcement have never seen such compassion and dedication to investigate and illuminate child abuse, that in and of itself, is a hero in by book.

Lt, Cox is an invaluable asset to my police department and to the community that honestly I can’t do without but more
important is the need for talents like Lt. Cox in smaller rural jurisdictions that are willing to dedicate and sacrifice for the
community.