Florida deputy sheriff is Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

Ben Adams, a deputy sheriff with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Ocala, Fla., received The American Legion’s National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award on Sept. 2 at the 97th National Convention in Baltimore.

Adams, an eight-year member of the department, served in the Marine Corps for four years and the Army reserve for five years, including almost 18 months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

American Legion Post 284 of Belleview, Fla., nominated Adams for the award. Sheriff Chris Blair stated in a letter accompanying the nomination that Adams is “an intelligent, articulate, talented, well-rounded deputy and officer of the law, but more than this, he is a good man with good intentions.”

Adams has been a member of the office’s Tactical Investigations street-level crime-prevention unit since its 2013 inception, has made a specialty of solving robbery and home-invasion cases – with a 73 percent closure rate as opposed to a 25 percent nationwide rate – and has also made inroads into drug cases in the area. Outside the criminal-justice realm, he gives presentations to bank staffs and citizens on what to do in a robbery situation.

Adams is also a member of the office’s SWAT team and honor guard unit, and with his family he puts on concerts for those in need, both on the force and in the community. As Blair summed up, Adams “always strives to be at the tip of the spear.”