ROCKINGHAM — Police Chief Billy Kelly has another award to place in his office.
Kelly was honored Tuesday as Law Enforcement Liaison of the Year by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program at the 2015 Highway Safety Symposium in Concord.
“Chief Kelly is a great resource to traffic safety in North Carolina and it was an honor to award him with the 2014 Law Enforcement Liaison of the Year,” said Don Nail, director of the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program. “His work and leadership has had a lasting impact that continues to help prevent crash-related fatalities.”
The program has 11 regions located geographically throughout the state. Kelly serves as the liaison for the nine-county Sandhills Region, or Region 6, which covers Anson, Cumberland, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Scotland and Stanly counties.
Kelly, who has been liaison since around 2006, is the main conduit of information to the counties about enforcement campaigns, grant information and other initiatives, according to his bio from the symposium. During the second week of this past May’s Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign, Region 6 set a new record with 93 percent of the region participating.
Assistant Deputy Director Mark Scaringelli said the program’s staff, who deals with the liaisons on a daily basis, select the recipient based on who has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
“Chief Kelly’s recognition by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program of his hard work and professional dedication to law enforcement and the public he serves is well deserved,” Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump said in an email Wednesday. “The city of Rockingham is very fortunate to have a police chief that provides the leadership and professionalism that Chief Kelly provides daily in serving not only the citizens of Rockingham but our state as well.”
The mission of the program is to promote “highway safety awareness to reduce the number of traffic crashes and fatalities in the state of North Carolina through the planning and execution of safety programs.”
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.