Coweta County Sheriff’s Win First in their Category at Governor’s Challenge Awards

(MACON) The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety today honored 33 different Georgia law enforcement agencies for their year-round work to save lives and reduce traffic crashes on our roads during the 27th annual Governor’s Challenge Awards held at the Macon Centreplex.

An annual recognition program for statewide law enforcement agencies of all sizes, the program featured awards in eight different categories based on department size, as well as Campus and University Police, Military Police, Traffic Enforcement Network of the Year, Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator of the Year, HEAT Team of the Year and several specialty program area awards.

The first ever Director’s Cup grand prize, in honor of Director Allen Poole of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, was awarded to Snellville Police Department. This coveted award is given to the top performing department among all categories. Snellville garnered a score of 237 out of 260, with judging done by highway safety experts in Tennessee and South Carolina. This is Snellville’s second overall win in three years.

The Governor’s Challenge program honors law enforcement agencies for their work to prevent crashes, injuries and deaths in their communities, college campuses and military installations. Designed to award outstanding achievements in highway safety enforcement and education, the awards recognize agencies for the approach and effectiveness of their overall highway safety programs. Agencies are evaluated not just for enforcement initiatives, but for unique problem-solving in their communities, using public information activities, and creating departmental policies that support their traffic enforcement campaign efforts.

“Hosting Governor’s Challenge each year is one of the ways we can express our sincere gratitude to the men and women in law enforcement who dedicate themselves to saving lives on Georgia’s roads.,” Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Director Allen Poole said. “We’re honored to highlight these officers, deputies and troopers for helping keep Georgia’s roads safe.”

Another highlight of the awards program was the always-anticipated awarding of this year’s Governor’s Challenge vehicle, a fully-equipped 2026 Dodge Durango. To award the vehicle, 10 agency names are drawn out of a pool that includes any agency that won an award. Those agencies each choose a key and whoever has the key that illuminates a special law enforcement light bar wins. This year’s vehicle was won by the Donalsonville Police Department.

“Georgia has law enforcement agencies large and small in all corners of the state and that’s what’s great about Governor’s Challenge.” GOHS Law Enforcement Services Director Roger Hayes said. “These awards recognize the efforts of all agencies, no matter their size, on working towards the ultimate goal of zero traffic deaths on our roads. That is a goal we will never stop reaching for and we do that by encouraging departments that urge their citizens to buckle up, slow down, drive sober and never drive distracted.”

The full list of this year’s Governor’s Challenge winners is as follows:

Photos of the winners can be found on GOHS social media accounts. Media are allowed to access these photos for news purposes only and GOHS must be credited.