Alexandria Deputy Chris O’Dell received two honors in a matter of weeks. On April 30, he was presented with the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce’s Life Saving Award for the second time in his career. Last week he won the Alexandria Jaycees’ William G. Truesdale Award for service to the community.
O’Dell works in the security division of the sheriff’s office and is assigned to the city jail, but he also teaches self-defense tactics to high school students, trains new recruits in emergency vehicle operation, and helps out with the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
What was the incident you received the Life Saving Award for?
I found an inmate who was unresponsive and I performed CPR to save his life.
Can you say anything more?
Not really, I believe there’s a lawsuit still pending.
How about your earlier Life Saving Award?
Back in 1996, I witnessed a robbery at gunpoint here in Alexandria. I ran over to the lady being robbed and chased the guy down, caught him, and arrested him. She had been beaten up pretty good, and the Chamber of Commerce thought if I had not intervened, something more devastating would have happened to her. Catching the guy who did it doesn’t hurt also.
What about the other work you do in the community?
For seven years, I’ve been teaching [self-defense] tactics to T.C. Williams students to prevent rape and sexual assault. I could talk forever about the program. I can’t tell you how many times kids have come up to me and thanked me, and that really means a lot. I also participate, with the sheriff’s blessing, in MADD meetings, and I help make DWI arrests. And I’m an emergency vehicle operator instructor, so I teach new recruits how to drive vans for prisoner transport and police cars. I’m kind of a jack of all trades.
What’s the hardest part of driving a police cruiser?
Knowing how to use the brake. Everyone thinks you can run 200 mph and brake at the last second, but it doesn’t work like that.
