BAPD Sgt. William Cook named Officer of the Year

Sgt. William Keith Cook form the Broken Arrow Police Department was named the department’s Officer of the Year recently. The award was bestowed at the Broken Arrow Chamber Awards Gala in February. 

Cook says he's still surprised when Broken Arrow officers go out to eat and someone pays for their meal.

“They’ll be in line at a fast-food place and the person ahead of them will pay for their meal,” Cook said. “Those kinds of things, you don't get that in a lot of places these days throughout the country and that’s why Broken Arrow is a great place to work.”

Cook has been with the department for 25 years. He was selected Officer of the Year after nominations by his fellow officers and a final selection by Chief Brandon Berryhill. It is the third time in Cook's career that he has received this honor.

Before coming to Broken Arrow, Cook served in the Marine Corps and then worked a little over a year at the Coweta Police Department.

"I loved the camaraderie and the teamwork that the military offered," Cook said. "When I got out of the Marines, I wanted something similar to that.”

Cook serves in the Professional Standards Unit.

"My responsibilities are the accreditation for the police department through the Oklahoma Association of the Chiefs of Police," he said. "I do the accreditation process and make sure all that is correct. I also do the policies and procedures and keep those up to date for the department and whatever else comes my way."

Cook says his favorite part of the job is the comradery within the department. Being a police officer isn’t what you see on TV or the movies. There is a lot of administrative paperwork to be done as well.

“It takes all of us working together to make a police department run like it should,” Cook said.