SIDNEY, NY – (WIVT/WBGH) A local police officer received national recognition for the amount of drunk and drugged drivers that she has arrested and taken off the road.

Morgan Smith of the Sidney Police Department received a certificate for outstanding merit by RID USA. RID stands for Remove Intoxicated Drivers.

In the first 6 months of this year, officer Smith has made 12 arrests of people driving while drugged or drunk. Smith herself was hit and badly injured by a drunk driver in 2021. She was directing traffic in the Village of Walton when she was struck. Resulting in a broken shoulder, and brain damage that required her to relearn how to speak the alphabet.

Go back to where I am now, I had to work really hard to get back to where I can be living a normal life. After being out of work for six months, it was a huge reality check of like this can happen to anybody. And, when I came back, that was my main goal. Preventing this from happening to other people,” said Smith.

Smith was also the officer that performed the sobriety test and testified in the case involving 14-year-old Anielle ‘AK’ McEwan-Lomnicki.

Smith also received a letter of appreciation from the Acting Delaware County District Attorney Shawn Smith.