2024 Night of Honors for the Lake Lure Police Department
The Lake House Restaurant held their yearly Night of Honors event for the Lake Lure Police Department on February 9, 2024. The restaurant puts this event together along with members of the community to show their appreciation for the officers who keep the Town of Lake Lure safe. Each year there are awards given for special cases, events that occurred, and others worthy of recognition.
Chief Sean Humphries gathers information from the past year and chooses the recipients of the awards. The following is a summary of the presentation Chief Humphries presented to each award recipient.
Citation of Bravery: This year the Citation of Bravery was awarded to Officer Chris Shuford for his brave acts during a call in which a male was reported to have a gun at an establishment. While Officer Shuford waited for backup to arrive, he noticed erratic behavior conducive with intoxication from the male in question. When backup arrived, Officer Shuford approached the subject and noticed a large bulge at the man’s waistband. Officer Shuford told the subject not to reach for it and asked the suspect if he had a gun. The suspect answered that he did and he began to reach for it. Officer Shuford closed the distance between himself and the subject, repeating not to reach for it. The suspect started to sit and continued reaching in the area of the gun. Officer Shuford ordered the subject to release the gun or he would be forced to use deadly force on him. After a pause, the subject complied. Officer Shuford was able to take the gun which was loaded with a bullet in the chamber. The subject was arrested and found to have a record of assault, domestic violence, and kidnapping. He also was found to have gang affiliations in the Atlanta area.
Community Service Award: The Community Service Award was awarded to Officer Tyler Dills. His work with the department consist of him creating a class on Lake Patrol Tactics which he used to update and instruct both full-time and reserve divisions for more productive patrol hours on the lake. He also attends the monthly Lake Advisory Board meetings to stay abreast of current issues. He has become a Certified Instructor and was recently offered the roll of Training Coordinator for the Lake Lure Police Department. His continued drive to learn and assist the department is admired. He aspires to become a Police Chief one day. His motivation, effort, and determination make him the perfect candidate for this award.
Distinguished Service Award: The Distinguished Service Award was awarded to Officer Terry Frank who began his career with the Lake Lure Police Department in 2004 after retiring from a long admirable career with the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Prior to that he served in the United States Air Force for 5 years where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. When he came to the Lake Lure Police Department he brought with him the reputation of a smart and dependable Law Man. He not only has strength of character as a Law Enforcement professional, but he has a strong faith as well. His 19 years with Lake Lure Police Department has included filling in hours when full time officers needed vacation, coming in on weekends to patrol the lake, and always keeping up with his share of training. After this past year, the department thought he might hang up the badge due to a medical scare, but in a true spirit of service and self-sacrifice, he came back, serving many hours with the department. As one officer stated, ‘they don’t make them like that anymore.'
Distinguished Service Award: The Distinguished Service Award was awarded to Officer Dean Givens, who began his career with the department in February of 2006. This officer got into law enforcement later in life at the age of 37 due to a lifelong dream to become a Law Enforcement Officer. He stated it was difficult to start late in life alongside of guys nearly half his age, especially when it came to the physical abilities tests. Chief Humphries spoke of how he was a Corporal when Officer Givens first began. He was able to train him and he witnessed first hand his passion for the career. After years of being a patrolman, Officer Givens was promoted to Corporal and took on a new position of lake patrol. He worked on developing this new department which in recent years has expanded to 2 departments. His dedication and loyalty to the police department continued even covering the town when officers were called elsewhere. His assistance and dedication to the Lake Lure Police Department will be missed as he plans to retire soon.
Community Service Award: The Community Service Award went to Sergeant Carl Umphlett. This past season Town Council gave the police department an objective, to gain compliance from the individuals using our lake for recreation in reference to both our new and existing regulations. Sergeant Umphlett carried out this directive in a way that deserves recognition. Over the summer months he issued 26 citations to boaters for various lake violations as well as conducted 315 permit checks as well as 17 safety checks. This extra attention to the lake did not deter him from his level of work conducted on land as he stopped 162 vehicles, wrote 76 non lake citations and made 12 arrests. This is in addition to all of the other duties he is responsible for as a supervisor. His commitment to lake patrol and enforcement is a big reason that the town had such a safe, successful past season on the waters of Lake Lure. By sending a strong statement through his commitment to consistent enforcement tactics, Sergeant Umphlett has improved the safety of our citizens.
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Contact Information
Street Address
2950 Memorial Highway
Lake Lure, NC 28746
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 195
Lake Lure, NC 28746
Office Number
Phone: 828.625.4911
Fax: 828.625.8839
