Newton County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Randy Downs received the Dale Moorefield award for Firearms Instructor of the Year at the 2014 Georgia Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (GALEFI) conference on Aug. 26.
Downs began his career with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office in 1999 as a patrol deputy and became a patrol sergeant in 2006. Sergeant Downs has been the lead firearms instructor for six years, and in those years the Newton County Sheriff’s Office has had a 100 percent firearms qualification rate every year.
Sergeant Downs was recognized by Sheriff Ezell Brown and Chief Deputy Jerry Carter Wednesday morning.
The Dale Moorefield award was created by GALEFI in honor of Dale Moorefield, who was one of the charter members of GALEFI. This award is presented to the instructor that the association feels contributed the most during the year to training. This award has only been presented to 17 instructors since the Georgia Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association was formed in 1989.