Dionne Dawson honored as Correctional Officer of the Year

WAUKEGAN – Correctional Officer Dionne Dawson was selected Correctional Officer of the Year by the Illinois Sheriff’s Association, according to a news release.

Dawson began her career with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in October 2010. She is a Crisis Intervention Team member, Naloxone certified, and an instructor of Inter-Personal Communication Skills.

On Jan. 24, 2018, Dawson volunteered to take part in the 2018 Point-in-Time Homeless Count. Volunteers searched for, interviewed and aided unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in Lake County.

On July 12, 2018, while assigned as an internal-transport officer, Dawson was called to the jail reception area to process a subject who was surrendering on an arrest warrant. When Dawson arrived, she saw the subject on the floor, face-down and unresponsive. The person was hardly breathing. Dawson recognized the symptoms of an opioid overdose. She immediately called a medical emergency and requested Naloxone to the scene. Dawson administered three doses of Naloxone with no positive response. A fourth dose of Naloxone was administered and the person became responsive.

Dawson was honored in February at the Illinois Sheriff’s Association banquet in East Peoria.