10/3/05
Game and Fish officer wins
prestigious national award
PHOENIX - Tim Baumgarten, an Arizona Game and Fish
Department law enforcement officer, has been named the Butch Potts National
Boating Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The announcement was made two
weeks ago at the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)
awards banquet in Portland,
Ore.
Officer Tim Baumgarten (center) receives national award in Portland, Ore.
"This was such a great honor. I have been involved with enforcing boating
laws and boating safety for most of my career, and recently I've had the
opportunity to become nationally involved with training officers to detect
impaired boat operators. I've also become involved with a national effort to
validate field sobriety testing on the water," says Baumgarten.
NASBLA developed the Boating Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award to
recognize and honor outstanding service to recreational boating. The award
symbolizes the highest level of achievement among boating law enforcement
officers in the United States.
Tim was first recognized in May 2005 as the Western States Boating Law
Enforcement Officer of the Year. He traveled to Portland to compete with two
other finalists for the national honor.
Baumgarten has been with the Game and Fish Department for 24 years and is
currently the law enforcement program supervisor in the Kingman, Ariz.,
regional office. He is recognized throughout the nation as one of the top
experts in operating under the influence (OUI) enforcement and watercraft
accident investigations.
"I am truly honored and humbled by this," said Baumgarten, who has
personally accounted for more than 100 OUI arrests during his career and has
assisted fellow officers with hundreds more.
The Arizona Game Ranger Fraternal Order of Police recognized Baumgarten as
the 2002 Outstanding Game and Fish Officer of the Year, and he's received an
award of merit from the National Water Safety Congress.
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