Fire Service Divisional Officer Witney Tatum, who is stationed on Cayman Brac, invariably carries the service motto “Saving Lives and Protecting Property” into the community, even when he is not on duty. He takes every opportunity to educate the public and promote fire safety awareness and fire risk reduction.

With the safety of the public as his primary focus in all his actions, Officer Tatum leads by example, performing fire prevention activities and inspections of structures to ensure they are fire safety compliant before accidents can occur.

As a result, he recently took it upon himself to inspect a residence on Little Cayman based on a complaint of living conditions and is now working hard to resolve the issue by employing the most cost effective method. He is known throughout the service as an officer who cares.

Equally, Officer Tatum cares about his fellow staff members and goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure achieving the desired outcomes of projects. Demonstrating excellent leadership in his overseas and local training, he has facilitated his colleagues to benefit individually and helped the unit improve significantly over the past decade by passing on the knowledge and expertise gained from his training.

Moreover, he holds staff to his high standards of providing consistent, timely and quality customer service, taking action when necessary. Yet, he does not hesitate to prioritise service improvement within the department, repeatedly proving his respect, regard and caring for his fellow staff members.

Mr. Tatum constantly strives for better efficiency and effectiveness of departmental functioning, including governmental resources. Consequently, he led the duty crew in completing the Cayman Brac Training Facility, a move that saved the government thousands of dollars. He has undertaken similar action in the past with similar results.

Lauding him for setting a fine example and adhering to the highest ethical, moral and professional standards, Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson, Cert. Hon., JP, emphasised Mr. Tatum’s empathy for staff and the public. “Your colleagues tell me that one of your personal mottos is ‘treat others as you would have them treat you’. Your ability to treat everyone with respect and dignity, be a model trainer to your staff and also remain scrupulously fair and honest throughout the years of your service is highly commendable,” the Deputy Governor said. “These are a few of the reasons you were named Most Efficient.”

Commenting on his award, Officer Tatum said: “I am deeply humbled by this honour. It was such a pleasant surprise! Such honours are rarely achieved solely by individuals. I truly appreciate and thank my fellow staff members for their contributions in this accomplishment as well as towards improving our service quality and standards.”

Photo Captions: (Photo DG Tatum) Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson presents February’s Employee of the Month accolades to Fire Service Divisional Officer Witney Tatum who is stationed at the Cayman Brac Fire Station. (Photo DG Tatum Group 2) L-r: District Commissioner Ernie Scott, Deputy Chief Officer Wesley Howell, Employee of the Month Witney Tatum, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, Deputy Chief Officer Kathryn Dinspel-Powell and Deputy District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts (Photo DG Tatum Group 1) L-r: Deputy Chief Officer Wesley Howell, Management Support Officer Beth McField, Chief Human Resources Officer Briana Ebanks, Employee of the Month Witney Tatum, Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer Ronnie Dixon and Deputy Chief Officer Kathryn Dinspel-Powell