On Wednesday, the Selma Exchange Club honored Selma Police Department (SPD) officer Micah Hale by presenting him with the club’s “Officer of the Year” award.

Hale was ambushed in his patrol car in September of 2018 and suffered gunshot wounds from which he is still healing.

After lunch, Selma Exchange Club President Robert Green, himself a former SPD Chief, began speaking to the small crowd gathered to recognize Hale.

Green referenced the horror movie “The Purge,” in which all crimes are made legal for 12 hours one day a year, to emphasize the importance of the police.

“Imagine living in a society where we had total anarchy,” Green said. “When something goes wrong, these three words are uttered – call the police.”

Green noted that, on the heels of accounts of police shooting unarmed suspects across the country, police are suffering from some of the lowest approval rating in history. However, Green added, the Exchange Club was gathered to recognize a “good apple” who “almost made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Hale, previously recognized by the Selma City Council for his sacrifice in the line of duty, joined the SPD in 2005, working both day and night shifts. Hale received public relations and anti-gang enforcement training, which Green noted was “good training to have” in a city riddled with gang violence.

From 2014 until 2017, Hale was a deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. Hale returned to the SPD in 2017, only to be shot while driving in 2018.

Though he is still recovering from his wounds, Green noted that Hale is close to being able to return to duty.

Hale, holding his award and grinning boldly, thanked those in attendance for the recognition of his work.

“Me and my family, we’ve had some difficult times,” Hale said. “But I am a son of Selma and I don’t plan on going anywhere.”