A Columbus police officer was recognized for outstanding service during the annual Region C Criminal Justice Advisory Committee awards banquet on March 18.
The Region C committee is made up of all state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies from Polk, Rutherford, McDowell and Cleveland counties.
Region C law enforcement officials meet monthly to discuss and plan law enforcement operations and hold a yearly banquet to recognize outstanding officers from the region in various categories.
Columbus Officer Ron Diaz was selected as uniform patrol officer of the year for 2013.  Officer Diaz was selected based on his outstanding performance in all facets of law enforcement.
He led the department in arrests for 2013 making 47 felony charges and 55 misdemeanor charges on 50 arrests for the year.
The majority of these arrests were for drug and drug related offenses.  While processing these arrests Officer Diaz also led the department in calls for service answered for the year.  In addition to his patrol work Officer Diaz on his own created and implemented the first police explorer post in the area. On his own time he solicited membership at all of the local schools and held the first meeting with 15 members ranging from ages 15-20 all with an interest in a law enforcement career.
He has since held monthly meetings and conducted training for these individuals on various law enforcement topics. Officer Diaz is extremely active in the community with anything involving our area youth. He has given numerous law enforcement related presentations at local churches, schools and many other community events.  Officer Diaz displays true ethical and moral behavior above and beyond what is normally seen in our profession.
Officer Diaz is a devout Christian and very active in his church. He is currently working on his associate degree in religious and church ministry at Fruitland Bible Institute in Hendersonville.  It was for these reasons and more that officer Diaz was recognized for this honorable award.

– article submitted
by police chief
Chris Beddingfield