HUNTINGTON -- U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin honored the Huntington Police Department as the law enforcement agency of the year for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Goodwin announced the honor Thursday at his office's annual Law Enforcement & Victim Assistance Awards ceremony. It was held at Marshall University, marking the first year the ceremony has been held in Huntington.

Goodwin praised the Huntington Police Department for its participation in multiple joint operations with various federal agencies. He believes those efforts have resulted in "fundamental change" evidenced by a drop in violent crime and a transformation in the city neighborhoods, including the Fairfield community.

"They have come up to me, not just one but dozens of individuals have said, 'Listen. You don't know what this has done for the community. We were scared to go outside. We were scared to let our kids play, and now we have our streets back,'" Goodwin said. "That's the kind of change the people in this room can make."

Thursday marked the inaugural presentation of an award to honor the district's top law enforcement agency and task force of the year. The task force award was bestowed upon the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team based in Kanawha and Putnam counties.

Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook accepted the award that honored his agency. He praised officers in his department when asked about the award prior to the ceremony.

"It's considerable hard work by these guys and they deserve all of the credit," he said. "It's always nice when someone that's kind of outside of the box can look back in and recognize your work. I think it brings some validity to what you're trying to accomplish."

As the HPD accepted its award, several of its members received individual recognition for work on the multiple joint operations.

Five city police officers received an award recognizing Outstanding Gun and Violent Crime Investigation. It honored their work in Operation Smokin' Aces, which involved undercover federal agents operating a fictitious storefront at 917 20th St. in Huntington. It targeted crimes ranging from counterfeiting to the trafficking of illicit drugs, guns and black market tobacco.

Two of those city officers also were honored for participation in a marijuana investigation dubbed "Up in Smoke." It unraveled a $15 million marijuana conspiracy, which pumped tons of the drug through central Ohio and into the Tri-State.

Goodwin presented 12 members of the city's police department with an award recognizing Outstanding Implementation of District Initiative. It praised the city's work on its drug market intervention program. It was designed to close down open-air drug markets by offering services to low-level drug offenders, while prosecuting and locking up higher-level offenders.