Parks officer of the year

By submitted, 12/8/17 7:38 AM

HOPE – Officer Freddie Parks (left), recently voted by his peers as Hope Police Officer of the Year, was recognized by the Hope Rotary Club.

Officer Parks is a four-year veteran of the Hope Police Department with seven years of law enforcement experience. The majority of his service has been in the patrol division. In August of 2017 he was assigned as a School Resource Officer.  Parks’ current role is to help ensure the safety of our K-12 public school system as well as assist in the coordination of community programs such as National Night Out, Halloween Program, Junior Police Academy and other requested topic specific programs such as drug awareness and bullying. 

He works with local sponsors to provide resource materials for our students of various ages as well as adults.   Materials address topics such as:  Peer Pressure, Neighborhood Watch, Workplace Violence, Sexual Assault, Bullying, Tech and Cyber Concerns, Frauds and Scams, Drugs, Car Safety, See It Tell It, Stop the Violence, Bicycle Safety, Halloween Safety, etc. As a SRO, Officer Parks acts as a role model and mentor, provides instruction and consultation, and works with School administration to support the safe environment of our K-12 schools.    While SRO’s do not enforce school disciplinary issues, they do enforce significant violations of law.  SRO’s are a resource for students, family and school staff.

Officer Parks is a unique, kind-hearted, intelligent individual who works well with others.  He has always been willing to go above and beyond.  He coordinates the Reserve Training program for UAHT and trains Reserve Officers commensurate with the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.   This program benefits multiple Law Enforcement Agencies in SW Arkansas.  He has over 500 hours of post academy Law Enforcement Training.  His training includes Tactical deescalation, Mental Health First Aid, ongoing annual constitutional training, SRO certification, Crisis Negotiation, Certified Instructor, Radar Instructor, Crime Scene investigation, Field Training Officer,  and many other courses.  He is the recipient of several commendations.  Officer Parks is the father of two children ages 18 and 23.