MADD Awards Southlake Officers

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) presented two Southlake police officers with awards last week.  Officer Kyle Meeks received the Enforcement Hero Award, which is given to the officer in the department with the most DWI arrests in 2017.  Sergeant Tyler Sewell received the Commitment Hero Award, which is given to the officer who exemplified a strong overall commitment to DWI education or enforcement in 2017.

“Sergeant Sewell and Officer Meeks have worked hard to keep our citizens safe by removing DWI drivers from our streets.  I commend them for their dedication and hard work,” Chief James Brandon said.

Officer Meeks began with our department as a lateral hire from Colleyville P.D. in January of 2017.  During the year 2017, Officer Meeks has been an aggressive enforcer of DWI laws. While the officers on the department made a total of 165 DWI arrests for the year, Officer Meeks alone was responsible for 35 of those.  Officer Meeks is known throughout the department for his knowledge and aggressive stance on DWI enforcement as he actively looks for opportunities to ensure the safety of motoring public and combat drunk and drugged driving. He also mentors less experienced officers while on shift to help them become more proficient at recognizing the signs of DWI and completing the necessary documentation to ensure a successful prosecution.

Sgt. Sewell has been with the Southlake Police Department for 10 years and has always been committed to DWI enforcement.  In 2017, Sgt. Sewell coordinated with multiple agencies to establish a State Highway 114 Regional Task Force in support of NHTSA’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.  This task force consisted of the following agencies:

• Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office
• Denton County Sheriff’s Office
• Fort Worth PD
• Northlake PD
• Roanoke PD
• Trophy Club PD
• Keller/Westlake PD
• Grapevine PD
• Irving PD
• Texas Department of Public Safety – Highway Patrol Division
• Texas Department of Public Safety – Aircraft Operations Division
• Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Sgt. Sewell coordinated with all of these agencies to present a PSA which can be seen on YouTube warning drivers of the dangers of impaired driving and the different enforcement agencies out there.  Sgt. Sewell continues to mentor his traffic officers to improve their DWI detection skills and also takes part in DWI enforcement while working STEP.

Additionally, in 2012, Sgt. Sewell was involved in a catastrophic DWI wrong way driver pursuit on State Highway 114.  The driver was traveling 130 MPH eastbound in the westbound lanes and struck a concrete jersey wall killing his passenger.  Sgt. Sewell has produced a video/PowerPoint of this incident which he uses to educate our Citizens Academy participants and high school students.  Sgt. Sewell has taken a tragic, senseless act and turned it into a teaching opportunity.

Sergeant Tyler Sewell