SHALIMAR — An officer noted for his "willingness to serve" is the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Deputy of the Year for services rendered in 2015.
On Thursday, Feb. 4, Deputy Travis Topolski received the honor.
From Niceville High School and the University of West Florida to platoon commander in the U.S Marine Corps, Travis Topolski has always been a leader and a high achiever.
Since joining the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in 2013, he continued to serve with honor and distinction.
According to an OSCO media release, the deputy responded to 1,223 calls for service, generated 181 offense reports, and made approximately 102 arrests.
His case closure rate of 50 percent doesn’t include statistics generated assisting other deputies or while serving as a field training officer for new deputies.
Topolski applied for a waiver to try out for the Special Response Team in 2013 and brought with him a wealth of valuable knowledge, the release stated. "He applied for a waiver to test for corporal/investigator, passed the test, and is on the current promotion list. He became an FTO in 2015 and logged nearly 80 hours training newly hired deputy sheriffs."
Since joining the agency, he’s completed Advanced Report Writing, Firearms Instructor, General Instructor Techniques, and become an OC – Less Lethal Munitions, Chemical Munitions and Distraction Device Instructor, as well as an agency Physical Abilities Testing Course Evaluator. He set the course record on the PAT test.
Deputy Topolski takes an active interest in training members of his shift on tactics and officer safety and volunteers his personal team with SRT static displays for the community.
He has been invaluable as an OCSO CrossFit program coach, spending more than 230 hours helping other employees obtain a higher level of fitness.
Dynamic, determined, motivated, modest, diligent, hard-working, a great team player – those are some of the words his co-workers use to describe Deputy Topolski. He consistently backs up other units without hesitation and is known as the “Human Gazelle” for his ability to catch people that run from him.
Deputy Topolski’s demeanor has served the agency well in the community due to his positive relationships and desire to help educate citizens regarding laws and safety.
He’s a dedicated family man and father of two daughters.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa sheriff's office names 2015 Deputy of the Year