The Paulding County Rotary Club welcomed guests from the Paulding County Sheriff's Department to honor one among them with the Service Above Self Award for 2017. After an introduction, Travis Miller invited Sheriff Gary Gulledge to take address the honored guests and the members of the club.
Sheriff Gary Gulledge took the podium at the Rotary Club meeting by thanking club members for their continued support of the Sheriff's Department and their work in the county. Sheriff Gulledge also stated his appreciation to the Rotary Club for the annual Service Above Self Awards. This gives the Sheriff's Department the opportunity to honor a member of the Sheriff's Department as Officer of the Year. Accordingly, Sheriff Gulledge announced Detective Linda Whritenour as the 2017 Paulding County Sheriff's Department Officer of the Year.
Sheriff Gulledge recounted Detective Whritenour's service since she joined the Sheriff's Department in 2006. Starting in prisoner transport and then moving on to patrol, Detective Whritenour was promoted to Detective in 2011. Where she has demonstrated her unwavering determination to her job. Through nights, weekends and holidays, at all hours during the course of her duties, Sheriff Gulledge remarked that he never once heard a complaint. She is a hard charger. She does not quit and that is evident in her success rate as she tackles theft and homicide cases alike. Through her perseverance, she has achieved a remarkably high recovery rate of stolen items from the theft investigations. Detective Whritenour has participated in a joint task force with the FBI in the pursuit of serial armed robbers. Inevitably, as part of the job, the duty of delivering sad news has also fallen to Detective Whritenour. In this, her display of compassion, reveals the heart she has for the public. Having a heart with compassion for people that you protect is the must-have trait for any long-term career law enforcement officer.
With that Sheriff Gulledge presented Detective Whritenour the award. Detective Whritenour thanked Sheriff Gulledge, Sheriff's Department guests and the members of the Rotary Club for the award and for being selected as the Officer of the Year. In attendance from the Sheriff's Department, Detective Linda Whritenour was joined by her husband, Cpl. Brett Whritenour and her son Cameron Whritenour, along with Detectives Mike Hill and Robert Davis.