GPD Officer Joseph Dixon was arrested on May 5th and charged with domestic battery. He was put on administrative leave for the next month, and didn't resume his normal patrol until July 7th. Even though he only worked three-fourths of July, he was given the GPD District 3 Officer of the Month award. He says he's proud of it, and he may end up with no criminal charges.

According to police reports, Dixon was arrested after his girlfriend accused him of pushing her to the ground and holding her there. GPD officials say there's no correlation between Dixon's arrest and his award, but they do acknowledge that there is an ongoing internal investigation.

"Officer Dixon's administrative assignment and the district officer of the month are completely separate and distinct," said GPD District 3 Commander Captain Ed Book. "The one doesn't have anything to do with the other."

"We do have an open internal investigation on Officer Dixon; therefore, I can't comment on what that investigation involves," said GPD OFC. Summer Hallett.

Book says Dixon got the award because of his efforts in 2 major investigations, which resulted in arrests after Dixon had come back to his usual assignment in District 3. As wcjb previously reported, the State Attorney's Office is deferring prosecution of Dixon and will dismiss the charges as long as Dixon meets several conditions. State attorney Bill Cervone says that is standard procedure for anyone with a clean record.

Officer Dixon was contacted for this report. While he said he couldn't comment on his arrest because of the ongoing GPD investigation, he said that he worked very hard when he got back to work in July and is happy and proud to be recognized for his efforts.