Sgt. Shannon Jeffries of the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, who coordinates the Central Missouri MUSTANG narcotics task force, got a surprise when he and Callaway County Sheriff Dennis Crane attended an annual statewide law enforcement meeting last Thursday in Springfield.
During the event, a county law enforcement officer is honored by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City. The winner of the honor receives the Enoch B. Morelock Award.
"Sheriff Crane did a number on me during that event," Jeffries said. "He didn't tell me I was to be the person receiving the award. He just said we were going to the training seminar in Springfield."
U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson announced Jeffries was honored both for his work for many years with the MUSTANG drug task force in Central Missouri and for his many hours of volunteer work in the communities he serves.
Jeffries is coordinator of the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group (MUSTANG), a task force of Central Missouri law enforcement officers specializing in narcotics investigations.
The unit includes police officers from Fulton, Jefferson City, Columbia and Boonville and deputies from sheriff's departments in Callaway, Cole and Boone counties as well as officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.