The Mobile Police Department capped off National Police Week by honoring its top performers from 2022 at its annual Law Enforcement Recognition Banquet, an event made especially meaningful this year given the staffing challenges the department worked through during that stretch.
The banquet recognized achievements from calendar year 2022, a year in which the department was down roughly 70 officers. Despite that shortfall, the department honored double the number of recipients compared with the previous year’s ceremony.
Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine said the officers being recognized share something in common with why he entered law enforcement in the first place. “Why do they do it? — I would simply say it’s the same reason I got into law enforcement — is there is a sense of calling or purpose to do something greater than yourself,” Prine said. “And the fact that they do it for the low pay and the fact they do it for very low public recognition — really says a lot to that calling.”
The banquet also recognized the spouses and family members of officers for their support behind the scenes. Lt. Col. Marcus Young, deputy commander of the 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and this year’s keynote speaker, thanked families directly during the ceremony. “To the family members — thank you for what you do for your officer — we cannot do it without you,” Young said. “They need your understanding — they need your nurture. Officers aren’t built and they’re not wired like a normal person.”
The event is held in partnership with the Mobile Law Enforcement Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money to support the department. Foundation President John Arendall said the group’s fundraising directly benefits officers and their families. “Every dollar we raise — goes straight to supporting the police department,” Arendall said. “Again whether it’s training or equipment, whether it’s supporting a family in need that are in the police — or like a night like tonight to celebrate — to say thank you — that’s what we do.”
The night’s top honor, Officer of the Year, went to Cpl. Julius Nettles, a homicide investigator who accepted the award surrounded by family. Nettles credited the department’s homicide unit as a whole for the recognition. “The scenes that we respond to — the people that we engage — obviously at the worst moment in their lives,” Nettles said. “And so we really essentially gain strength and energy from each other — where I fall short — one of the other members of the homicide unit pick up the slack. Even though the award is in my name — I’m accepting on behalf of the homicide unit because — if it wasn’t for the entire homicide unit, if it wasn’t for our collective efforts — there’s no way I would be here receiving this award.”
The banquet underscores the pressure Mobile’s police force has operated under amid staffing shortages, while highlighting the department’s efforts to publicly recognize the officers and investigators who kept the department running through a difficult year.