The Officer of the Year for the Illinois State Police is proficient at racking up DUI and other traffic arrests, but he’s modest about it. Trooper Marvin Wagle says, “I work midnights, when most of the impaired drivers are out, so that’s to my benefit.”

Wagle was presented a 2012 Ford Interceptor SUV, which will be his patrol car for the next year. He says he appreciates the new set of wheels, as more than one person has lost control of himself or herself in one way or another in the back of his old one.

Wagle is a four-year State Police veteran who lives in Galesburg and patrols a district that includes Knox, Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island Counties.

Other awards at the ISP’s annual ceremony Wednesday included Stacie Speith as Forensic Scientist of the Year and Cheryl Clodfelter as Telecommunicator of the Year. Speith works at the crime lab in Carbondale, and Clodfelter has worked in Carmi.

The consolidation of 21 communications centers into four is the latest example of belt-tightening that state government has forced upon ISP. The department’s director, Hiram Grau, said, “These are very, very difficult times, But, fortunately, our guys just – men and women – go about doing their business doing what they do every single day, and I imagine many of them don’t even realize they are doing more with less. They are taking on more responsibility. They are just so dedicated.”

The ceremony took place at Glenwood High School in Chatham, near Springfield.

(Posted 8-2-2012 at 8:06am, Illinois Radio Network)