HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 12 Ben_Wenande_Officer_of_the_Year
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Jake Omodt, Communications Intern
Phone 952-833-9522 • commintern@EdinaMN.gov • EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Officer Ben Wenande Named Traffic Officer of the Year
Edina, Minn., April 12, 2018 – Edina Police Officer Ben Wenande has been named Traffic Officer of the
Year by the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association for 2017. Wenande was nominated for the award
by multiple Edina police officers for volunteering with the Police Explorers program, his certification of
becoming a Drug Recognition Evaluator and his outstanding patrol work. He began a special assignment as the
Edina Police Department’s new DWI enforcement officer Jan. 1.
Wenande received the award Thursday, April 5, at the Golden Valley Country Club. “I was extremely
surprised and honored I won the award,” said Wenande. “It was kind of intimidating being given the award in
front of almost every police chief in Hennepin County, but it was a pretty cool experience.”
Wenande has been a Police Officer in Edina for five years and is the City’s second DWI enforcement officer.
The City received a grant from Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths allowing one officer to work full-time and
focus their work entirely on DWI enforcement in Edina. In total, 13 cities in Minnesota were awarded similar
grants.
Since Jan. 1, Wenande has made 56 arrests with 42 of those arrests being for impaired driving. The 42 DWI
arrests to date are tied for the most of the 13 cities given the grant from Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths.
For more information on Wenande’s Traffic Officer of the Year award or his work as the City’s DWI
enforcement officer, call the Edina Police Department at 952-826-1610.
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