BERLIN- The Maryland State Police last week announced their annual awards and one of the Berlin barrack’s own was named Trooper of the Year for 2013.

During a ceremony last Thursday, MSP Superintendent Col. Marcus L. Brown announced Senior Trooper Marlin Myers of the Berlin Barrack as the statewide Trooper of the Year. Brown also announced the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year and a tie for the Police Communications Officer of the Year.

The winners were chosen from a list of troopers, NCOs and PCOs who won their respective awards locally at each of their barracks, divisions or units throughout the Maryland State Police. During the ceremony, Brown thanked each of the winners for their commitment to public service and for providing outstanding law enforcement services to the people of Maryland.

“I am very proud to lead a force of dedicated troopers and civilian employees who commit themselves each day to doing all they can to fight crime, reduce traffic crashes and protect our citizens,” he said. “Our goal is to be a statewide force for a safe and secure Maryland. We do that by maintaining high standards of service, but our standards would mean nothing without the outstanding people who uphold those standards.”

Myers, a trooper at the Berlin barrack since 1996 has certainly set and upheld those standards. In fact, his supervisors describe him as being the “gold standard” for an excellent road trooper. He uses every tool available to him to detect crimes and arrest criminals. In 2013, his skills and abilities in the area of drug interdiction led to his assignment to the Berlin barrack’s Criminal Interdiction Team.

He led the Berlin barrack last year with 50 total arrests, half of which were for drug offenses. During his work on the Criminal Interdiction Team, Myers recovered large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. In one traffic stop alone, he found more than half a pound of methamphetamine, representing the largest seizure of that drug in Worcester County history.

His productivity in Berlin was not limited to catching criminals and seizing illegal drugs, however. Myers also conducted the field training of a new trooper, showing him how to be a productive member of the barrack. He also organized the barrack’s “Shop with a Cop” program and raised $1,900 to provide 11 underprivileged children in Worcester with the ability to shop for Christmas presents for their family.

“It is rare to find a road trooper with as many years of service as Senior Trooper Myers still performing at such a high level with this degree of enthusiasm and love of the job and his community,” said Myers’ Supervisor Corp. Matthew Mann. “Senior Trooper Myers is proud to be a Maryland state trooper and it shows in all he does.”