The Iowa Police Chiefs Association is honoring a West Liberty Police officer as Community Policing Officer of the Year for communities under 10,000 population.
Officer Kim Halpain, a 24-year-old native of Muscatine, has been with the West Liberty Police Department for about one year. She previously served with the Muscatine Police Department.
The association is recognizing Halpain for her work with social media as a positive crime prevention outreach tool, her rapport with people of all ages, and creating West Liberty's first "Shop with a Cop" program. According to Chief Kary Kinmonth, Halpain also was instrumental in starting the department's "Turkeys not Tickets" promotion in which officers handed out vouchers for free turkeys to people during traffic stops.
Kinmonth nominated Halpain for the award, which she will receive at the association's banquet May 24 in Coralville.