Officer Mary Bennett with UTPD Chief Troy Lane

UTPD Officer Mary Bennett graduated Friday with top honors from the police academy.

She received the William D. Nuchols Award for Law Enforcement Excellence, the highest honor given in a Blount County Sheriff’s Office Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy graduating class.

The top cop award is given to the recruit who displays overall leadership qualities, as well as overall achievement. It is named in honor of William D. Nuchols, a Blount County Sheriff’s deputy who was killed in the line of duty in 1956 in a car crash while responding to a call.

Bennett was part of the class of 42 officers from across Tennessee who graduated from the academy Friday.