Department names Dyrness as its top cop

A veteran motorcycle officer who has spearheaded student safety programs in Burbank schools was recognized as Burbank’s Police Officer of the Year recently.

Timothy Dyrness, 55, joined the force in 1988, after which he spent two years in patrol before becoming a school resource officer and starting the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in Burbank schools.

His career has also included being an undercover narcotics detective and a K9 handler.

Since 2000, Dyrness has served as a motorcycle officer, enforcing traffic laws while investigating collisions.

However, the father of four, who grew up in Burbank and married his John Burroughs High School sweetheart 34 years ago, has done perhaps his most meaningful work in the schools, especially among high school students learning to drive.

In 2003, he was inspired by the Every 15 minutes program, which gives students a lesson in drunk and distracted driving, staged at his son’s school. He then sought to bring it to Burbank.

Since then, he’s helped coordinate the program several times at local schools, most recently at Burbank High School earlier this year.

He helped coordinate the live simulation of an emergency response to a drunk-driving collision, as well as a memorial for those who were simulated to have lost their lives and presentations by parents who have lost their children in real car crashes.

“It really becomes a selfish act if they go drink and drive,” Dyrness said about what he hoped students gained from the program.

Meanwhile, Dyrness oversees the district’s Safe Delivery Program, which features a valet line to drop off students by the curb in the mornings before school. He also visits classrooms to teach students about traffic safety.

His efforts with the agency’s team of motor officers have helped reduce traffic collisions in recent years, officials said.

“Twenty-seven years later, I still love what I do,” Dyrness said.