Indianapolis, IN – During an awards ceremony held April 26th, 2019 Superintendent Douglas Carter announced the 2018 Indiana State Police Trooper of the Year is Trooper Joseph Malone from the Indianapolis District.

Trooper Malone’s supervisor, Sergeant Shawn O’Keefe said, “Trooper Malone is a highly motivated trooper, with a work ethic second to none. He displays a high level of competency, and is extremely dependable and self-motivated. Trooper Malone always presents a positive and professional image of himself and the Indiana State Police. He is the consummate shift partner, always willing to assist fellow troopers and other law enforcement agencies both on-duty and off-duty.”

The criteria used to select the trooper of the year goes beyond statistics, however in 2018 Trooper Malone, who works the afternoon shift, had the following:

• 215 people arrested with 851 different charges
• 35 Operating While Intoxicated Arrests
• 1553 Traffic Citations issued
• 332 Warnings
• 36 Child Restraint Tickets Issued

Trooper Malone is a 1995 graduate of Deptford Township High School in New Jersey. After high school Malone joined the United States Army where he served as an Infantryman and Ranger, with combat tours to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Egypt, Philippines, and Korea during his 20 year military career. Joseph now lives in Johnson County with his wife and two children.

So far in his 2 1/2 year career with the state police Malone has been selected as a member of the Honor Guard, the Tactical Intervention Platoon and has recently completed crash reconstruction school. Trooper Malone is also a key participant in the Indianapolis RighFit Program sponsored by the Indianapolis Indians. This program provides after school activities for four Indianapolis Schools, they consist of public safety personnel, military and other community members.

Indianapolis District Commander Jeff Payne said, “Malone’s numbers are impressive, but his presence within his community goes far beyond statistics. Not only his he a great police officer, more importantly he is a great person.”