Officer Dominic Truehart began working with the University Police Department in 2014.
He was named Officer of the Year for 2015.
The Lion's Roar/Karson Sharp

Alumnus and University Police Department Officer Dominic Truehart was recently named Officer of the Year.  

Truehart has served with UPD since beginning his career in late 2014 after his graduation in the spring. Since then, he has worked with UPD and has now received his first major award.  

Truehart was awarded Officer of the Year in  2015.

“It feels great,” said Truehart.  “It’s an honor. It’s always great to be recognized for effort you put in. It’s nice, nice to know that I’m doing a good job on campus.”

Truehart has had fulfilling moments while working with the UPD.

“I guess it’s best any time I can interact in a positive manner with students,” said Truehart. “Off the top of my head, the two most fulfilling are these ones that stood out to me. Over the Thanksgiving break, a shift before mine found two, not stray dogs, but lost dogs. When we came on in the morning, we took some time to figure out who they were, who they belonged to and we were able to bring them back to their owners. We found out they had run away on Thanksgiving night, so that was pretty nice. We’re all big animal lovers, most of us at least.”

Being an UPD officer has given Truhart the chance to be able to help the community. 

“I guess the most fulfilling would be, I think it was last semester,” said Truehart. “We had a little girl that lived in one of the surrounding neighborhoods. She had gone missing on her walk home.  Her parents were very worried and distraught. Even though I wasn’t the one who found her, our shift was able to put together a team and look for her. Time’s always pretty sensitive on that kind of thing. About an hour and a half, two hours in, we managed to find her and reuniting her with her mom, that was pretty special. It’s not something I’m going to forget.”

Truehart has no thoughts of leaving as he continues his career.

“I don’t really have any plans to leave,” said Truehart. “I enjoy working here and I enjoy what I do. Time will tell. There’s no way to predict the future. There may be a misconception that just because we’re a smaller department we’re not real police and we don’t do things that real police do. But I can assure you, everyone who works for the department is commissioned just like any other police officer. A lot of them had other careers at sheriff’s offices and police departments around the state. I enjoy working here and we do work in tandem with other police departments pretty regularly.”

After a year and a half of servicing the university, Truehart has been awarded for his efforts and he plans to continue providing his service.