Police Capt. Cook receives state award

Captain Tim Cook of the Bella Vista Police Department was awarded the Benton County Outstanding Officer of the Year Award by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge Oct. 5 in North Little Rock.

"I think he very definitely is deserving of that particular award," Bella Vista Police Chief Ken Farmer said. "Not just for this one case that brought it to light, but everything he does to support me every day."

Cook said he believes he earned the award in part because of his involvement in investigating the Torres case, and particularly for being able to balance his administrative capacity with on-the-ground work.

Cook supervises the department's entire dispatch unit, and he also works on other things for the department -- for example, he coordinated the first Citizen Police Academy this spring, and was involved in generating its curriculum.

"When you're just an officer-detective," he said, "your sole focus is on the task. But when you're an administrator you have to look at the bigger picture."

The secret to this, he said, was putting in lots of hours.

Additionally, he said, familial support is a big part of what makes his work possible.

"I truly feel blessed for my family supporting me in this career," he said. "You work a lot of odd hours, you do a lot of strange things that nobody sees."

Nathan Smith, Benton County's prosecuting attorney, nominated Cook for the award.

Smith said that while he believes many officers across Benton County deserve recognition, Cook has had an excellent career.

"He's the guy who stood out to me as having done a great job on several cases," he said. "Being at work late after hours, being willing to contact different witnesses and really work every angle of the case 100%. So that's really what came to mind about him."

Smith said he's worked with Cook a great deal, and he's glad to see him earn the award.

"I'm just happy that he was recognized with it," he said, "and I think that he's a credit to Bella Vista and the police department out there."

Bella Vista on the whole, Cook said, is also a great community in terms of its support for the police, and that is something he greatly appreciates.

But just as important, he said, was working with an excellent department.

"Maybe I'm winning the award independently," he said, "but I've got to share credit with the whole department. They've all done outstanding work on this. I've got to thank everybody I work with here, this truly could be a department-wide award."

General News on 10/19/2016