A pair of Northern Lehigh area law enforcement officers are the recipients of a highly esteemed accolade.

The Allen O. Delke Post 16 American Legion of Slatington honored Detective Timothy Wagner of the Slatington Borough Police Department and patrolman Dean Heffelfinger Jr. of the Walnutport Borough Police Department with the Outstanding Law Enforcement Award on Monday.

Vice Commander George Burke said the awards haven’t been given out since 2014. Burke had been the last recipient upon retiring from the Slatington Borough Police Department.

“It just got kind of pushed in the back burner,” Burke said. “(Commander) Bernie Dugan, he said he wanted to re-institute that, so we’re going to try and do it annually.”

Burke said the award “recognizes the outstanding performance of the local law enforcement.”

“Every police officer does an outstanding job, but these guys kind of went above and beyond that with their training and what they do for the community,” he said. “That kind of puts them over the edge for receiving the award.”

Wagner began as a part-time patrolman with the Slatington Police Department in 1999, until he became full-time in 2001.

In January 2007, he was transferred to Lehigh County Drug Taskforce as a detective, where he was assigned to the FBI Violent Gang Taskforce, Lehigh County Computer Forensics Lab, and worked with the Lehigh County Homicide Taskforce.

Wagner was transferred back to Slatington Police Department as a detective in 2014, and in 2017, through numerous investigations, he recovered more than $100,000 for victims of thefts.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized here today for the community service that we all do for Slatington Borough, and I look forward to many more years of service and supporting the borough,” Wagner said.

Heffelfinger has been with the Walnutport Police Department for the past seven years.

He has earned two commendation awards for exceptional police work, and is currently one of the department’s certified field training officers and defensive tactics instructor.

Heffelfinger has volunteered for the past 12 years with the Slatington Fire Department, and currently holds the department’s fire marshal position.

“It means a lot to me to get this award,” Heffelfinger said. “It’s nice to see that people recognize us for the hard work that law enforcement does do for our community, and I hope to have many more years in this career.”