ELKHART COUNTY, IN. -- Indiana Conservation Officer Dustin Whitehead, assigned to Elkhart County, has been selected as the 2021 District 1 Officer of the Year.

District 1 includes Kosciusko, Elkhart, St. Joseph, Marshall, Fulton, Miami, and Wabash counties in north-central Indiana.

Whitehead has been a conservation officer since 2009.

Along with his regular duties as a field officer, he has served as a public safety diver, defensive tactics/firearms instructor, and field training officer.  

This award gives Whitehead eligibility to win the Pitzer Award. This award is given to the top overall conservation officer in the state.

The Pitzer Award is named after Conservation Officer James D. Pitzer, who was fatally shot while investigating illegal hunting activity on Jan. 2, 1961.