Officer Reynaldo Cintron Receives Outstanding Service Award

The DeKalb Bar Association’s second outstanding service award goes to an officer who has been employed by the DeKalb County Police Department since August 2006. According to his supervisor, Reynaldo Cintron has been a model veteran officer and always a top producer on the watch. Cintron spends his shift working hard to make the North Precinct a safer place for the citizens of this county. He is always the first to volunteer for special assignments and is a great role model for the newer officers.

Officer Cintron’s mentoring of new officers is not a required task but his dedication to teaching inexperienced officers not only shows his commitment to his chosen profession but also his care and compassion for his fellow officers. He is a friend to the prevalent Hispanic community along the Buford Highway corridor. His fluent use of the Spanish language has made him invaluable in assisting not only in law enforcement situations but in dealing with any everyday crises in the community.

Cintron has received several commendations for his actions. In January he was responsible for the arrest of three suspects for burglaries committed in the Drew Valley community. This arrest garnered media attention for the excellent job he and other officers did in ending the onslaught of burglaries that had plagued this community. In February he received another commendation for the arrest of three more burglary suspects in one of the Buford Highway apartment communities. In December he received a commendation for the arrest of an auto theft suspect that involved not just a traffic stop but actually locating the suspect that had been driving the car and getting him to confess to the crime.

Cintron has also been named the Officer of the Month for day watch on two occasions, August and September, for his continuous excellence in job performance.

On Sept. 29, 2012, Officer Cintron was working an approved extra job at 4337 Buford Highway, the El Trebol club. While on his post at the front door he heard gunshots coming from inside the crowded club. In complete disregard for his own personal safety he rushed into the club through the mass of escaping patrons and observed a gunman armed with a handgun firing shots randomly into the crowd.  He engaged the still-firing armed suspect and was able to stop him by discharging his county issued firearm. This act of bravery without a doubt saved the lives of many more patrons even though the gunman had already wounded four innocent people. Because of his selfless heroism he was awarded the DeKalb County Police Department’s Medal of Honor.

Lt. V.C. Dankewich, who has been a DeKalb County Police officer for more than 26 years and a supervisor for more than 10 years, says that, without a doubt, Cintron is one of the hardest working and most dedicated officers he has had the privilege to work with and to supervise.