Enoch B. Morelock Award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that Sgt. Shannon Jeffries, an investigator with the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, has received the 2013 Enoch B. Morelock Award.

The Enoch B. Morelock Award is an annual recognition of outstanding moral character, service to law enforcement and service to the community. The prestigious law enforcement award, presented annually by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is named in honor of Sullivan County Sheriff Enoch B. Morelock, who was the first recorded line of duty death in the Western District of Missouri on Dec. 19, 1847.

Jeffries, coordinator of MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group), was honored for his commitment to public service both on and off duty during the 11th Annual LECC Training Seminar in Springfield, Mo., on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013.

Jeffries has served as the coordinator for MUSTANG  for three years, a  MUSTANG  narcotics  officer  for  12  years  and  Sergeant/Investigator for the Callaway  County Sheriff's Department for 17 years. He also serves as the Certified Firearms Instructor and Certified Active Shooter Instructor for the sheriff's department. The MUSTANG Drug Task Force Board can  attest to the excellent statistics of the task force  he coordinates, his display of leadership, honorable moral character and unrelenting drive to serve and give back to his community and department in his duties assigned, which are many.

A substantial amount of illicit drugs and currency have been seized and numerous convictions made due to the coordination of the MUSTANG Drug Task Force. MUSTANG includes the sheriff’s departments in Callaway, Cole, and Boone counties, the police departments of Jefferson City, Columbia, Fulton and Boonville and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.   

Jeffries unselfishly gives back to the community in other ways by participating in a youth mentor program within the Jefferson City School District, which entails meeting with a grade school child on a weekly basis. He also coaches youth sport programs, is active in the neighborhood watch program and provides informative  presentations to area schools and to other law enforcement agencies in order to enhance their knowledge  of drugs and public safety.

Today's law enforcement community calls on officers and leaders capable of working well with others, collaboration, exhibiting effective interpersonal communication, innovation,  inspiration and the ability to contribute without dominating any task. It is these skills that Jeffries brings to every case/situation and administrative decision he makes. His extraordinary poise and the environment he inspires derive the very best from his officers of the MUSTANG Drug Task Force and colleagues of the sheriff's department.

Enoch B. Morelock Award

Sullivan County Sheriff Enoch B. Morelock was the first recorded line of duty death in the Western District of Missouri on Dec. 19, 1847, in Sullivan County. Sheriff Morelock was shot and killed during a court-ordered sale of the accused=s property. The accused killer, Patrick McIntry, was charged with 1st Degree Murder but was later acquitted. Within a year Mr. McIntry was found shot to death on the banks of a local river.

The annual Enoch B. Morelock Award recognizes individuals with outstanding moral
character, service to law enforcement and to the community outside of law enforcement. Recipients may include officers from local police departments, sheriffs= offices, state agencies, or federal agencies as well as investigators from prosecutors' offices.