VW Post names top trooper, dispatcher

Van Wert independent/OSHP information

The Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has named its “Trooper of the Year” and “Dispatcher of the Year” for 2011.

Trooper Shawn D. Cook is the post’s “Trooper of the Year” for the second year in a row, while Dispatcher Patrick P. Bowsher was recognized as the top dispatcher for 2011.

Trooper Cook, a Wren native and Crestview High School graduate, is a 7½-year veteran of the Patrol, and has been at the Van Wert Post since 2005. He lives in Van Wert County with his wife and two daughters.

Chosen by his supervisors and peers for this award, Trooper Cook was selected for possessing the technical knowledge and ability to get the job done, his work attitude, communication skills, professionalism, courtesy, and the ability to exercise sound judgment. In 2011, Trooper Cook was the first trooper in Van Wert Post history to receive the ACE Award for his auto larceny enforcement efforts, and the Criminal Patrol award for excellence in felony enforcement.

So far in 2001, he has recovered seven stolen vehicles, with a total value of $25,600, and has opened 13 felony cases, including drug possession cases and one in which he apprehended a commercial truck driver for manufacturing methamphetamines in the cab of his semi-tractor cab.

Trooper Cook has also been awarded the Patrol’s physical fitness award and five-year safe driving award, and is a technical crash investigator and field training officer. He enjoys participating in speech details, working with children, landscaping and exercising. He is involved in Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics charitable organizations.

This is the fourth time, Trooper Cook has been selected as Post “Trooper of the Year”. He exemplifies the image of a professional state trooper and what it means to “Contribute to a Safer Ohio,” and is most deserving of this prestigious award.

Bowsher joined the Highway Patrol in 1997 and has worked at the Van Wert and the Defiance Patrol posts and is now assigned to the Van Wert Dispatch Center. He is a graduate of Edgerton High School.

Bowsher was honored in recognition of his outstanding service over the past year. Fellow dispatchers, supervisors, and officers stationed at both the Van Wert and Defiance posts chose Bowsher based on his technical knowledge and abilities, work attitude, personal attributes, professionalism, and cooperation with supervisors, peers, and the public.

In addition to dispatching duties, Bowsher is also certified as an AED/CPR instructor and is active in his church. He and his wife, Lyn, live in Edgerton and have two grown children.

Both post honorees will now compete for district and state honors as “Trooper of the Year” and “Dispatcher of the Year.”