Macon County sheriff's deputy named 'Officer of the Year' by traffic safety group
MACON, Mo. — A northeast Missouri law enforcement officer, who was born and raised in Ottumwa, is being recognized for a job well done.
Deputy Seth Rupp of the Macon County Sheriff's Office has been named "Officer of the Year" in the "small department" category for his outstanding efforts in traffic safety and impaired driving enforcement.
The award is handed out by the Missouri Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Advisory Council.
Rupp told KTVO he is very pleased to have been selected for this award.
“Having the office believe in my hard work, I do really appreciate that,” Rupp said. “It says a lot about where I work at. So, getting the email and then getting the phone call saying that you've won ‘Officer of the Year’ for the small department, it's quite an honor."
Rupp was nominated for the award by his co-worker, Major Tyler Souther. Souther said that oftentimes Rupp's traffic stops lead to convictions for more serious crimes.
"He seems to take a proactive approach to traffic enforcement,” Souther said. “He's always out there looking for whatever he can, and a lot of cases get made off of traffic stops, that are good cases, and there's a lot that goes around, and he seems to be very in tune to that."
Souther wrote in his nomination letter that Rupp's dedication to traffic safety and the attention to detail he puts into his cases is unmatched.
The letter said that of the 1,554 traffic stops made by the Macon County Sheriff’s Office in 2022, 580 of them were made by Rupp.
The deputy wrote a total of 323 citations and made 114 arrests in 2022. Seventy-three of the arrests came from traffic stops and 41 came from criminal investigations.
During some of his days off from the Macon County Sheriff's Office, Rupp works for the Linn County Sheriff's Office, Randolph County Sheriff's Office and Brookfield Police Department.
Rupp will be given his "Officer of the Year" award during a banquet at Lake Ozark, Mo., on July 13, 2023.
