October Officer of the Month
Sergeant Vincent Turocy
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Sergeant Vincent Turocy has been a trooper for the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) since 2000. He became a certified Drug Recognition Expert in 2008. He has received numerous traffic enforcement awards throughout his 20-year career to include the THP Trooper of the Year in 2013, the Top Ten DUI Enforcer awards in 2012 (#1) and in 2013 (#4). He received the MADD Hero Award in 2013, the MADD Silver Enforcement Award in 2014, and the MADD Bronze Enforcement Award in 2015. In 2017, he received the MADD Tennessee State Director’s Choice Award.
Sergeant Turocy has served as the MADD Tennessee State Advisory Board Law Enforcement Committee Chair since 2015 and plays an integral role in helping plan, organize, and emcee MADD’s annual Statewide Night of Remembrance and Awards Ceremony which began in 2015. It now sees annual attendance of over 400 victims and law enforcement personnel. In addition, he also captained the THP Middle Tennessee Law Enforcement Walk team from 2015 – 2018.
He forfeited his role as Walk Captain in 2019 when he was out on medical leave for 10 months after he was hit in January 2019 by a drunk driver while on duty in Nashville. The driver’s BAC was .191%. She hit Sergeant Turocy while he was parked on the side of the road working radar speed enforcement. He returned to work in October 2019 and again, resumed his involvement in the Statewide Night of Remembrance and Awards Ceremony.
He was the top fundraiser for the Middle Tennessee Walk in 2018. The THP Walk team that he captained was the Top Law Enforcement Team Fundraiser in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Under a new team captain, the THP Team won again in 2019, walking in honor of Sergeant Turocy after he was hit by the drunk driver earlier in the year.
MADD National is honored and proud to select Sergeant Vincent Turocy as its October 2020 Officer of the Month. Special thanks to MADD Tennessee and Michelle Rozell, Marketing Program Specialist, for nominating him.
