Cauthen named DPD Officer of the Year
DPD Chief Danny Watson (right) congratulates DPD 2016 Officer of the Year Patrolman Keith Cauthen.
Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The City of Darlington Police Department held its annual awards ceremony Thursday, December 22, and recognized officers for achievements in public service, training, and education. Chief Danny Watson thanked his officers for their dedication and perseverance, noting that while the job of a police officer is often trying, their efforts make the city a better place to live.
“We’re the people who show up every day, again and again,” said Watson. “Our job is to make the city as orderly and as safe as we can, and I think we do that every day.”
After numerous ribbons and certificates were distributed, citing officers for everything from marksmanship to earning college degrees, Watson presented the department’s highest honor – Officer of the Year – to Patrolman Keith Cauthen.
Cauthen, a 7-year veteran of the DPD, began his career with aspirations of working in a narcotics unit or SWAT, but says he found his real calling when he became a School Resource Officer at Darlington’s Brunson-Dargan Elementary School.
“I always loved kids, but when I became an SRO I found out that helping kids was my thing,” says Cauthen. “To have them come and talk to me when they have a problem at home or in school and they don’t want to talk to anybody else…I love it.”
Watson says Cauthen was chosen as Officer of the Year partly because of the initiative he showed in establishing a “Young Gents” program to teach Brunson-Dargan’s at-risk male students some valuable and confidence-building life skills.
“We help young men that are having problems at home or at school, and we try to help them become better people in their neighborhoods and around the school. We teach them how to tie a tie, how to dress, table etiquette…anything that can help them in the future,” Cauthen says.
Chief Watson expressed admiration for Cauthen’s generosity, adding that the patrolman often goes the extra mile for Brunson-Dargan students. “When you go a little bit above and beyond, when you do a little bit more to try and be there for a kid – to include buying a kid shoes that doesn’t have any – I think that’s noteworthy and needs to be mentioned,” said Watson.
Cauthen said that respect is mutual, noting that he would happily serve the rest of his career with the DPD. “I love the Darlington Police Department. That’s why I’m still here after seven years, and I plan on making twenty-five years if I can,” said Cauthen.