WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Jan. 27, 2016 — Alumnus Darren Johnson is now in the running for district and state honors after earning the title of Trooper of the Year at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Steubenville Post.The final selection for the state trooper of the year award will be announced at a later date.

Fellow officers stationed at the post chose Johnson based on his leadership abilities, professional ethics, courteous treatment of others, enthusiastic work attitude and cooperation with supervisors, peers and the public.

Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in criminal justice in 2005 from WLU and went on to graduate from Ohio State Patrol Academy in Columbus, Ohio in 2010. He was then assigned to the Canfield Post for a year before joining the Steubenville Post.

Prior to that, Johnson was a deputy with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department before being hired as a patrolman with Steubenville Police. After being laid off during a budget crunch in the city, he enrolled in the patrol academy.

Johnson resides in Hopedale, Ohio with his wife Casie and son Evan.

For more information on the field of Criminal Justice at WLU, please visit the College of Liberal Arts website or contact Professor Keith Bell, interim department chairman, at 304-336-8376.

For more information on Johnson, please see article written by Mark Law of the Steubenville Herald-Star.