Ocala Police Maj. Corey Taylor received a special honor recently during an Orlando Magic basketball game.
Taylor was recognized on the Jumbotron at the Amway Center in Orlando as he received the Harris Hometown Hero Award. He and his family attended the game and were there to applaud his efforts as he received the special honor.
The recent event wasn’t the first time Taylor has been honored. In February 2020, while serving as the commander of the multi-agency Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST), he was honored with a special award during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Taylor traveled to our nation’s capital with late Police Chief Greg Graham to receive the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas award for Outstanding Task Force Commander of the Year. He was the first law enforcement officer from Florida to receive the prestigious award.
Taylor, who was born and raised in Ocala, has been with the police department for about c20 years. He has experience as a patrol officer, K-9 officer, road unit supervisor, bike unit member, watch commander and district commander. He assumed leadership of UDEST in February 2017.
UDEST is an initiative of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement from the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security.
Some of Taylor’s UDEST squad’s arrests included:
- In January 2020, they nabbed seven people in raids targeting suspected drug traffickers.
- In September 2019, they arrested a woman who pulled multiple drug items from inside her bra, a man suspected of trafficking MDMA and a 61-year-old woman who allegedly offered an undercover agent oral sex for money.
- In August 2019, they arrested a 60-year-old woman who is no stranger to the Marion County Jail on charges of solicitation of prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia. They also arrested two men and a woman on a litany of charges that included burglary and drug-related offenses.
- In June 2019, a Waldo woman was arrested at the Country Inn & Suites at 3720 SW College Rd. after allegedly striking a $120 sex deal with an undercover agent.
- In February 2019, an Ocala couple was arrested on a variety of drug and weapons charges after a raid on their residence.