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Congratulations to Officer Christopher Challenger, recipient of the City of Coral Gables “Officer of the Month Award,” for the month of April 2022.
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I would like to respectfully nominate Officer Christopher Challenger, for Officer of the Month of April 2022.
Traditionally, the City of Coral Gables Police Department’s Officer of the Month is awarded based on apprehending criminals or solving cases. However, police work has evolved greatly, and Community Policing plays a vital role in police work today.
On April 13, 2022, Officer Challenger was dispatched to a residential alarm. When he arrived at the residence, he met the homeowner, Mr. John Tomberlin, who is 90 years old. Officer Challenger engaged in a conversation with Mr. Tomberlin and discovered he is a retired City of Miami Police Officer. Mr. Tomberline distinguishly served with the City of Miami Police Department from 1956-1990. Mr. Tomberlin invited Officer Challenger inside his home where they continued their conversation and he proudly showed Officer Challenger his shadow box on the wall that had City of Miami Police badges and patches.
Through their conversation, Officer Challenger discovered that it would be Mr. Tomberlin’s 91st birthday the following week. Officer Challenger promised him that he come back to celebrate his birthday.
Throughout the week, Officer Challenger researched Mr. Tomberlin’s career and was able to locate multiple newspaper articles. Some of the articles discovered dated back to 1959 and continued throughout Mr. Tomberlin’s illustrious career. Officer Challenger took all the articles and carefully pieced them together to create an impressive montage of Mr. Tomberlin’s 34-year career. In addition to the framed photos, Officer Challenger also used images of Mr. Tomberlin’s original City of Miami Police ID and printed it on an aluminum tumbler to present to Mr. Tomberlin on his birthday.
During this short period of time, Officer Challenger advised m...
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