Two Northern Lehigh area law enforcement officers have been bestowed with a prestigious honor.

The Allen O. Delke Post 16 American Legion of Slatington hailed Sgt. Deron Dorward of the Slatington Borough Police Department and Sgt. Jason Nothstein of the Walnutport Borough Police Department with the outstanding law enforcement award on Monday.

Vice Commander George Burke said the award is given to law enforcement officers who “represent the best Northern Lehigh has to offer.”

“They do an outstanding job protecting the residents of both boroughs,” Burke said.

Burke said both law enforcement officers’ list of achievements “read like a who’s who in law enforcement.”

Dorward honorably served in the United States Navy from 1991-1995, and attended Boot Camp at RTC San Diego.

He attended class A School for Engineering at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes.

Dorward’s assignment was aboard the USS Saipan (LHA-2), where he was assigned to the engineering department.

While assigned to the USS Saipan, he received numerous letters of commendations and awards.

Dorward began as an armed security guard with Towamensing Trails in Albrightsville, from 1998-1999.

He then served as chief of police of the borough of Weissport from 1998-2000.

From 2000-2003, Dorward was a campus police officer at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.

He then served as a deputy sheriff with the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office in Allentown.

Dorward was then assigned a Calvary Scout assigned to Bravo Troop 2nd 104 Calvary Unit, Easton, with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard from 2003-2006.

He has been employed by the Slatington Borough Police Department since 2003, and currently serves as police patrol sergeant.

“Winning this award is just an honor,” Dorward said. “To serve the community, and to help people in it.”

Nothstein has been a police officer with the Walnutport Borough Police Department since 2000.

He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2013.

Nothstein has received three commendations for valor in that time, as one of the first municipal police officers to be certified as a drug recognition expert in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Walnutport Police Chief Pete Wayda wrote in a letter to the post that Nothstein has been instrumental in preventing traffic collisions and removing impaired drivers from the roadways as a result of his training.

“Officers from both Lehigh and Northampton counties consult Jason on matters involving impaired drivers and he continues to provide assistance to officers in our region by instructing several programs where officers learn to recognize signs/symptoms of impaired driving,” Wayda said.

Nothstein has been a drug recognition expert since 2011, and a DRE instructor since 2015.

He has also been a standardized field sobriety test instructor since 2010.

In addition, Nothstein has been recognized as a “Top Gun” for DUI arrest five times by the Pennsylvania DUI Association, and has also been recognized as a “Top Gun” six times for DUI arrest by the Lehigh Valley DUI/Safety Task Force.

He has also been a firefighter for 23 years, and holds the rank of captain with the Mahoning Valley Fire Company.

“Winning this award means so much because we don’t get honored too often,” Nothstein said. “So, being the recipient to this award means the world to me.”