The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Axon Police Officer of the Year Award is designed to recognize and honor police officers who have demonstrated exceptional valor, bravery, and dedication in the line of duty.

This award highlights officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, often in life-threatening or high-risk situations, to protect the public, uphold justice, and demonstrate unwavering commitment to their communities.

The IACP/Axon Police Officer of the Year Award seeks to inspire excellence within the policing profession by celebrating acts of heroism, leadership, and exemplary service.
 

POLICE OFFICER OF THE YEAR FINALIST 
Officer Dominique Akins
Allen Police Department, Texas 

On May 6, 2023, Officer Dominique Akins was finishing an unrelated call at the Allen Premium Outlets, a 53-acre open retail shopping center. It was a beautiful spring day and there were more than 4,000 visitors and employees at the shopping center. Akins was talking to a young mom of two little boys, sharing police stickers, and discussing the importance of seatbelt safety when multiple shots from an assault rifle rang out. Akins immediately called on the radio that shots were fired at the outlet mall. He then grabbed his patrol rifle from his vehicle and ran toward the sounds of gunfire. 

While running toward the threat, Akins constantly updated his responding officers and warned people to get away from the danger. Akins continued running toward the middle of the outlet mall where he observed that several innocent people had been gunned down, including small children. The suspect was moving away from the officer along the middle ring of retail stores, continuing to shoot innocent shoppers and vehicles as he moved. Akins continued to pursue the suspect while calling out to responding officers. As Akins rounded a corner and began moving along the same path as the shooter, he observed the suspect kill his last victim. 

Officer Akins immediately engaged the suspect from more than 90 yards away. Despite the danger to himself, Akins stepped out from cover and fired his rifle three times, fatally shooting the suspect. Seeing the suspect down, Akins moved toward him to ensure the threat was neutralized. In total, the suspect had fired more than 130 rounds while moving from store to store. 

The suspect had three additional guns on him, more than 520 rounds of ammunition, and was dressed in tactical gear, including a ballistic vest. During the investigation, it was discovered that there were more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition in the suspect’s vehicle along with several additional firearms. From the first shot Akins heard to neutralizing the suspect, just four minutes had passed. During this time, eight people lost their lives; five adults and three young children. An additional five people were shot and survived after arriving officers provided tactical combat care by applying tourniquets, chest seals, and packing wounds. Officer Dominque Akins’s swift response saved an untold number of lives.
 

POLICE OFFICER OF THE YEAR FINALIST 
Officer Zachary Robinson 
Fargo Police Department, North Dakota

On July 14, 2023, at approximately 2:42 p.m., Police Training Officer (PTO) Zachary Robinson and Officer Jake Wallin responded to assist PTO Andrew Dotas and Officer Tyler Hawes, at a two-car injury crash. While fire personnel provided aid to a victim in one of the vehicles, occupants of the second vehicle were directed to park in an adjacent lot. As Officers Dotas, Wallin, and Hawes walked toward the parked vehicle, an individual in another vehicle parked two stalls north of the crash victims immediately began firing a scoped .223 rifle with a binary trigger directly at the three officers from the open driver’s side window.

Officer Dotas and Hawes were immediately struck and incapacitated, but Officer Wallin was able to move slightly and fire one round before being fatally struck. In less than a second, three officers were shot and down, along with a civilian, leaving Robinson the last officer standing. As the suspect continued firing, Robinson radioed for assistance and began engaging the suspect while shielding himself behind his vehicle. As gunfire continued, the second crash victim was struck by the suspect’s bullets.

Robinson continued engaging the suspect and, unknowingly, was successful in disabling the rifle. However, the suspect was armed with two other pistols. As more shots erupted, Officer Robinson eventually struck the suspect and moved towards him, but was still dangerously exposed to gunfire. After several seconds, it became apparent that the suspect was not going to surrender. Robinson tactically stepped to the rear of the suspect's vehicle and could see that he was still armed and attempting to get up while pointing the firearm indiscriminately in the direction of Robinson and any other passersby, disregarding additional commands to drop the gun. Officer Robinson fired again, killing the suspect and ending the threat.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the suspect had over 1,800 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle; much of which was loaded into magazines, two additional rifles, three additional pistols, a propane tank filled with an explosive compound, and a gas can. The suspect had also been Googling mass shootings and the Fargo Downtown Street Fair. It is without a doubt that the immediate, selfless, and courageous acts of Officer Robinson saved not just the lives of Officers Dotas and Hawes, but that of the thousands of community members in attendance at the Fair that was a mere 2.5 miles away.
 

POLICE OFFICER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS 
Detective Michael Collazo
Officer Rex Engelbert
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Tennessee 

On the morning of March 27, 2023, a 28-year-old woman arrived at The Covenant School in Nashville, on the campus of Covenant Presbyterian Church, to carry out a calculated plan to commit mass murder. The woman was heavily armed with three guns, two of them assault-type weapons, and she shot her way through glass doors into the building. She immediately shot and killed a custodian before going to an upper level of the school where she shot and killed three nine-year-old students, the principal, and a substitute teacher.

Detective Michael Collazo was the first officer on scene, arriving at 10:20 a.m. Armed only with a pistol, he entered the building through the glass doors that the killer had shot out. He cleared part of the first floor before exiting the building and re-entering through another set of doors. Shortly thereafter, Officer Rex Engelbert arrived on the scene, quickly retrieved his patrol rifle from the rear of his SUV, yelled for three arriving officers to join him, and used a key provided by a staff member to quickly enter the building. Collazo joined Engelbert and the other officers, forming a cohesive team that immediately began clearing classrooms in search of the shooter. As the officers methodically cleared the first floor of the building, they heard shots coming from the second floor and immediately climbed a flight of stairs and rushed toward the sounds of gunfire. The shooter was standing at a set of large windows and had opened fire on police officers who were arriving on the campus. During the encounter, Detective Collazo and Officer Engelbert engaged the shooter, firing four rounds each. 

The shooter was deceased 12 minutes after the first 911 call was received. She had fired a total of 152 rounds from her weapons. While the department joins its community in continuing to mourn the deaths of the six innocent victims, it is clear that this tragedy would have been much worse if not for the heroic actions of Detective Collazo and Officer Engelbert.
 

The IACP and Axon look forward to honoring the finalists at the 2024 IACP Annual Conference and Exposition. To learn more about IACP 2024, visit the conference website.