On October 15th, the Canton Moose Family Center held their Annual Public Safety awards banquet in Canton Georgia. At this event, Corporal Chris Leake, of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, received the recognition as Officer of the Year for Pickens County.

Corporal Chris Leake has been a member of the Pickens Sheriff’s Office since 2003. As supervisor of the Pickens County School Resource Officer Program, Chris manages three other deputies and a K-9 unit.

In addition to his regular duties, Corporal Leake oversees and teaches the C.H.A.M.P.S. program for fifth graders, runs the Explorers program for teens, teaches Party Time to 9th grade students and oversees all extra-duty jobs for school athletic events.

Recently, Corporal Leake has also been elected to the Georgia Board of Directors for the National Law Enforcement Explorer Association, received the Patron’s Award for the C.H.A.M.P.S. program in Pickens County, received the National Exploring Excellence Award and led the local Explorer troop to 2nd and 3rd place trophies for the Metro Atlanta Explorers Competition.