SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Mothers Against Drunk Driving held their annual law enforcement awards Tuesday.
They arranged a moment of silence during the event to recognize Vacaville Officer Matthew Bowen, who was killed in the line of duty on July 11.
"He's one of our brothers and sisters in uniform, and so of course, this impacts us greatly," said California Highway Patrol Lt. Rick Hatfield.
The suspect accused of hitting and killing Officer Bowen on Leisure Town Road appeared in court on Monday.
The court appearance lasted just three minutes and few words were exchanged between the judge and the defendant, 24-year-old Serena CJ Rodriguez. Investigators said she was driving under the influence of drugs when she hit Officer Bowen on his motorcycle from behind during a traffic stop.
"Unfortunately, these things happen all to frequently. It always hits our community and our partners and the officers at our station hard," Hatfield said.
Rhonda Campbell with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is on mission to save lives.
"39 people in the United States are going to die every single day because of an impaired driver," she said.
It's why the organization gave out more than 300 awards to officers from across the region who helped make 1,000 DUI arrests in the last year alone.
"It's our job, but it's always nice to feel recognized and supported by organizations such as MADD," Hatfield said.
85 police agencies from across Northern California were on hand for the ceremony.
"The first way to combat drunk driving is for people to make a good decisions, but if they don't, the second line of defense is our officers out there stopping them. Every time they stop someone, every time they remove someone from the road, we know that potentially that's a family that's not going to be impacted by drunk driving," said Lori Bergenstock, of MADD.
WATCH ALSO:
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
