Deputy William Travis received the Deputy of the Year award and Deputy Jesse Gammel earned the Beyond the Traffic Stop award Wednesday from the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.

"Travis has passion for removing impaired drivers from Rutherford County roadways," said Sgt. Nick Coble who nominated him for the award.


He was selected for removing impaired drivers from the highways and using innovative techniques for keeping travelers safe from impaired drivers.

Travis placed the Stinger system under the vehicles of two separate drivers passed out behind the wheels. When he awoke them, both drivers attempted to flee but the Stinger system disabled their tires because of Travis' advanced actions in preventing the drivers from leaving.

"This technique possibly saved lives due to both incidents being on heavily traveled roadways," Coble said. "In addition to his every day job performance and specialized training, Deputy Travis sets the example of being a public servant for other deputies by his hard work and dedication to make the roadways of Rutherford County safer."

Gammel earned the Beyond the Traffic Stop award for his arrest of an impaired driver with his investigation resulting in the seizure of illegal drugs and $21,682 cash, the largest cash seizure by Rutherford County Sheriff's patrol deputies this year, Coble said.

Travis was training Gammel when the trainee stopped a suspect who appeared to be impaired and arrested him.

While conducting a probable cause search of the driver's vehicle, Gamble found the cash and marijuana and drug paraphernalia, the sergeant said.

The suspect was taken to the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center where a $100 bill containing white powder believed to be illegal drugs were found in the driver's wallet.

"Gammel's attention to detail, ability to spot multiple infractions and his willingness to perform a detailed and thorough investigation led to the largest money seizure for Rutherford County this year," Coble said.