Amarillo South Rotary honors Amarillo Police Department 2022 Officer of the Year

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Amarillo South Rotary honored Amarillo Police Department Officer Enrique Gonzalez as the 2022 Officer of the Year on Thursday morning at the 32nd annual award ceremony.

According to the Amarillo South Rotary, its motto “Service Above Self” informs its operations and its drive to recognize and honor outstanding service from local law enforcement. The award ceremony was hosted at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Amarillo on Thursday morning and included detail on Gonzalez’s accomplishments, as well as noted that he also received the distinction of Officer of the Quarter at the end of 2022.

Gonzalez stood out among the department for his actions during three incidents in the latter half of 2022, according to the rotary, including an aggravated robbery, the recovery of a stolen motorcycle, and a homicide during which he located and arrested the suspect within two hours. The police department released further detail on two of those incidents in Gonzalez’s nomination announcement.

According to released information, Gonzalez responded to the aggravated robbery incident in October 2022 in the 3900 block of Bell. The person impacted by the robbery told Gonzalez that they had met the suspected robber at an apartment complex to buy a ring, but was held at gunpoint and robbed of both the ring and money as they were leaving. The report noted that Gonzalez was able to track the suspect to a local restaurant and conducted a vehicle search, during which officers reported finding a gun and marijuana. The robbery suspect was arrested after being positively identified by the person impacted.

In November 2022, according to the report, officers were dispatched to the 8500 block of East I-40 to respond to a report of a 34-year-old woman being found unresponsive in a parking lot who was pronounced dead by first responders. While Gonzalez was not among the officers dispatched to the call, he heard a broadcast message put out describing the suspect vehicle. After confirming information with officers on the scene, Gonzalez investigated and found a possible address for the suspect.

After going to both the initial address and a secondary address related to the suspect, according to the report, officers said they saw the suspect walking in the area. The suspect fled on foot and was chased by officers, including Gonzalez, as he “jumped several fences and crossed several streets.” After the suspect was taken into custody, officers were able to backtrack and find a set of keys belonging to the suspect vehicle.

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