At the group’s annual awards dinner, Chapter 74 of the International Footprint Association recognized 12 Officers of the Year from public safety agencies within Clallam County.
Law enforcement officers and firefighters were nominated by their host agencies and recognized at the awards ceremony at Sequim Elks Lodge.
Honorees and their agency representative include: PenCom Communications Manager Karl Hatton, Communication Officer Rick Crabb; Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, Detective Brian Knutson; Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain, Officer Kindryn Leiter; Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, Officer Luke Brown; Elwha Klallam Police Chief Jeffrey Gilbert, Officer Ricardo Gonzales; Border Patrol Agent in Charge Corey Lindsay; Patrol Agent Coty A. Hayes, Washington State Patrol Sergeant John Ryan, Trooper Eric Ellefson; Port Angeles Fire Chief Ken Dubuc, Captain Michael Adamich; Chapter 74 Footprinters President George Eims; Deputy Fire Chief CCFD 2 Jake Patterson; Fire Chief CCFD 4 Alex Baker, EMT Carolyn Flint; Assistant Fire Chief CCFD3 Tony Hudson, EMT Anaka Hughes.
Not present were Firefighter/Paramedic Ian Brueckner, CCFD 2, and Corrections Officer Chantal Hughes, Clallam Bay Corrections Center.
Knutson is Sheriff Office’s selection
Detective Brian Knutson was nominated by Sheriff Bill Benedict as the Footprinters of Olympic Peninsula Chapter 74 2017 Officer of the Year.
Knutson is a 14-year-veteran deputy of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, a lifelong resident of Clallam County, a 1996 Sequim High School Graduate and Marine Corps Veteran.
In 2017, Knutson took over the responsibilities of managing the Clallam County Sheriff’s Boating Unit. He is an active Field Training Officer, Honor Guard member, and the operations lead Taser instructor. “His performance in all these assignments is of the upmost quality,” sheriff’s department officials said last week. “His passion, professionalism, skill and leadership is remarkable.”
In May 2017, Knutson led the investigation into the homicide of Sequim resident Cynthia Little, coordinating the investigation and apprehension of suspect Benjamin George Bonner.
Detective Knutson was recently appointed by Sheriff Benedict to the position of provisional Sergeant, supervising the weekday patrol shift.
