HOWELL — Mayor Bill Gotto and the Township Council recently recognized Howell Patrolman Michael Maccia as the recipient of the 2014 Kimberly Smith Ames Driving While Intoxicated Prevention Award for Monmouth County.
Maccia, who has been employed by the Howell Police Department since 2010, works the midnight patrol. He received the award after making 13 arrests for DWI, according to Sgt. Joseph Markulic of the police department’s Traffic Safety Bureau.
“Officer Maccia can be considered one of the most aggressive midnight shift traffic enforcement officers we have and he continues to lead by example,” Markulic said.
Edward and Carol Smith established the award to honor the memory and life of their daughter, Kimberly Smith Ames, who was killed on Oct. 7, 1998 by a drunken driver in Beachwood. The crash took the life of Ames, 23, and her unborn child.
Markulic nominated Maccia to be a 2014 recipient. Maccia’s nomination for the award tracked his arrests from November 2013 to Dec. 1, 2014, according to Markulic.
Markulic said the Smiths “wanted to do something to try and put an end to drunk driving and to raise more awareness about it. This awards goes to an officer who has had a record number of successful arrests and educates people about drunk driving.”
Maccia serves as the training officer for the police department and he is a certified alcohol test operator who deals with the proper use of a Breathalyzer test, according to Markulic. The patrolman has received training in detecting controlled substances in a vehicle which can lead to a charge of drug-impaired DWI.
Gotto said, “Three of Officer Maccia’s 13 DWI arrests were made while he was training other officers. His efforts have made the roads in Howell considerably safer.”
Maccia thanked Police Chief Ronald Carter and Markulic for their support.
“I would like to thank the department for this honor and Sgt. Markulic for taking the steps he did to increase DWI checkpoints throughout Howell and making the roads safer,” Maccia said.
Markulic said Howell receives grants to fund patrols that specifically look for drivers who may be intoxicated.
“The grants we receive from the county give us the opportunity to get more officers out there on the roads patrolling and more checkpoints during times of the year when they are needed the most, like Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve and during football games like the Super Bowl.
“I think it is great for the agency to be working so aggressively on getting drunk people off the roads and I am glad we are being proactive about it,” he said.