American Legion Recognizes Dalton Officer, Firefighter Of The Year
Tuesday, October 28th, 2025
Each year, the local chapter of the American Legion salutes Dalton's public safety community with a dinner to honor outstanding police officers and firefighters from local agencies. The City of Dalton's honorees this year were Detective Matthew Kumnick from the Dalton Police Department and Engineer Douglas Kerns from the Dalton Fire Department. Both men were recognized last week at the American Legion's annual banquet.
Detective Kumnick was recognized as Dalton's Officer of the Year for his outstanding work with the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, a cooperative effort of local law enforcement agencies in the northwest Georgia region and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Detective Kumnick is one of the Dalton detectives assigned to the task force, which primarily works to investigate gang crimes in the region. Detective Kumnick has been a member of the DPD since 2011 and has been recognized by his peers and supervisors on numerous occasions for his outstanding performance on patrol and also in the Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
Engineer Kerns was selected as the DFD's Firefighter of the Year by a vote of his peers earlier this year. Kerns was honored not just for his outstanding performance of his duties, but also for his extensive volunteer work off-duty with fundraising for charities and causes close to the fire service. Engineer Kerns serves as the founder and president of the Dalton Firefighters Benevolent Fund, which was established in recent years to provide support and assistance to DFD firefighters and retirees and their families in times of need such as during illness, injury, or personal hardship. Kerns also serves as lead firefighter with the Fight For Air Climb Atlanta fundraiser for the American Lung Association. He is active with the Georgia Smoke Divers Association. He has also served as the vice president of the Georgia Police and Fire Games.
Below: (left) Engineer Doug Kerns poses with Lt. Matt Asbell and (right) Chief Cliff Cason poses with Detective Matthew Kumnick after the presentation of their American Legion honors
