Board Chair Jason Wagner, right, presents the 2013 Geraldine B. Nelson Advocacy Award to Greenville Police Chief Dennis Butts, center, and Sgt. Scott Drew

2013
Greenville Police Department

​For 2013, we recognize a group who have collectively and as individuals dedicated a significant portion of their professional lives to a deeper understanding of mental health and addiction, for the purpose of helping them be more effective in serving and protecting the community in which they live and work. Under its outstanding leadership, and with the active participation of 100 percent of the individuals involved in the Crisis Intervention Team training, or CIT, our 2013 award winners embody the success that comes from inter-agency understanding, respect and cooperation. Under Chief Dennis Butts, the Greenville Police Department is the first department in the Tri-County service area to achieve 100 percent participation in CIT. Every officer on patrol in the city of Greenville has accepted the challenge of viewing mental health and addiction issues, not as public nuisances, but as an opportunity to identify resolutions that divert a person from the criminal justice system by connecting them with available treatment in the community. It is in recognition of this achievement that the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health Services recognizes this year’s winner of the Geraldine B. Nelson Advocacy Award, for supportive measures on behalf of another, by promoting the recognition of consumer rights and encouraging positive change in the realm of mental health and addictions issues, presented this day, October 16, 2013, to the Greenville Police Department.