Police Officer Mark Adkins, who is assigned to the Patrol Division of the Salem Police Department, has been selected by his peers as “Officer of the Year” for 2011 after his work in solving several larcenies in the city.
“It’s quite an honor to be where I am right now knowing that my fellow officers felt strongly enough to give me this award,” he said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without them, so I really look at this as a team award.”
Adkins was able to solve two larceny cases and recover a number of stolen items by keeping his eyes open and paying attention to detail. In one of the cases, Adkins spotted a suspicious vehicle that was linked to a theft that occurred several months earlier and after pulling it over, the driver confessed to the crime.
In the other instance, Adkins was recovering tools that had been stolen from a vehicle in Salem when he noticed a number of other items in the home that had been reported stolen in an unrelated burglary. He was able to return to that residence and recover those, as well.
“Mark is always very attentive and alert to his surroundings,” says Salem Police Chief, Jeff Dudley. “Noticing little details like the ones that helped solve these crimes is what makes him a good police officer.” Law enforcement is a family affair for Adkins. Prior to joining the Salem Police Department as a Patrol Officer in 2008, he worked two years in the Sheriff’s office at the Roanoke County-Salem Jail. In addition, his father, Gene, was at the Roanoke County Sheriff’s office for 25 years and his brother, Mike, is a Sergeant at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.
