Tulsa Police Detective Paula Maker was named the 2026 Oklahoma Officer of the Year on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond presented the award at a ceremony at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, according to the Tulsa World. Maker was recognized alongside more than 40 nominees and other regional winners, KTUL reported.
Maker has spent the last 12 years as an investigator in the Tulsa Police Department's Child Crisis Unit. In that role, she has investigated child homicides, torture, sexual abuse and severe neglect, according to the department.
The work is grueling.
Before joining the specialized unit, Maker served on patrol and worked as a divisional investigator. During the past 18 months, she spearheaded a complex child torture and no-body homicide investigation that resulted in multiple life sentences for the perpetrators, the department said.
She also led additional severe child torture investigations and a child sexual abuse case that drew national attention, according to KTUL's earlier report on her regional award.
Drummond had already named Maker the 2026 Northeast Region Officer of the Year earlier in October. Regional winners were selected by panels of city, county, tribal and state criminal justice professionals, KTUL reported.
As the senior detective in her unit, Maker mentors six newer detectives. She also volunteers her time on the department's Peer-to-Peer team, which supports fellow officers.
The ceremony was the third annual Oklahoma Officer of the Year event hosted by the attorney general's office. Other regional winners recognized included Trooper Austin Albrecht of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for the Northwest Region, Sgt. John Cruise of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for the Southwest Region and Lt. Jake Heath of the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department for the Southeast Region.
