A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agent was awarded the Louisiana’s National Association of State Boating Law Administrator’s (NASBLA) “Boating Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” for Louisiana.
Sgt. Mitch Darby, of St. Martinville, received the NASBLA award at the monthly Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting on Jan. 9 in Baton Rouge.
Sgt. Darby has been an LDWF agent for 20 years and he mainly patrols the waterways in southern Louisiana including Iberia, St. Martin, Lafayette and St. Landry parishes.
“When it comes to boating safety enforcement, education, boating incident investigations, and boating safety outreach, Sgt. Darby stands alone in his assigned region,” said Major Rachel Zechenelly, the states boating law administrator. “He has always represented the department well throughout his career with pride and has constantly exhibited a hard work ethic.”
Sgt. Darby has distinguished himself by becoming an advanced accident reconstruction agent for his region after attending the level two of the National Boating Accident Investigation Course. He has conducted numerous fatal boating incident investigations and he is sought out by his peers for his knowledge when complex incidents investigations are conducted.
Sgt. Darby is also certified to operate the side scan sonar that assists with search and rescue missions. He is also a NASBLA Boating Program Instructor and a Louisiana Boating Education Course Instructor for the department. Since 2013, he has trained enforcement cadet classes in the NASBLA Boat Crew Member Course (BCM) and the Boat Operations/Search and Rescue Course (BOSAR).