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Published on Wednesday, September 17, 2003
in the Tallahassee Democrat
Three employees of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles were honored last week during the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators international conference in Philadelphia.
Honored were retired Lt. Col. Billy Dickson, Peter Stoumbelis and Diane Wood.
Dickson, of the Florida Highway Patrol, received the association's Distinguished Service Award for his work in fighting identity theft and improving homeland security. Dickson, along with the help of the Division of Driver Licenses and its counterparts, laid the foundation for better nationwide scrutiny of documents used by persons seeking driver licenses or ID cards. He retired in June after serving 40 years.
"(This award) showed recognition of the hard work this department has done to improve the driver licensing process," said Robert Sanchez, spokesman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Stoumbelis and Wood, who both work for the DHSMV, are the first recipients of a new award that is sponsored by the association and the National Highway Safety Administration. The Information Technology Award's purpose is to "honor a jurisdiction's achievement in implementing a system that improves highway safety through information technology."
Stoumbelis and Wood were honored for directing a DHSMV team that developed Florida's Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID). DAVID is a Web-based search tool for law-enforcement and criminal-justice offices that links and cross-references five databases housed at the DHSMV.
The database has been described by a Florida Department of Law Enforcement official as "the best new tool put in law enforcement's hands in 25 years."
"We are very pleased because it is a reflection of the regard that other departments like ours have for Florida," Sanchez said.