York County prosecutors name this year’s top cop. For the first time, it’s a woman.
Most of the people wearing a police badge are men. Around the country, less than 15 percent of cops are women. In the city of Rock Hill, 36 of the 164 officers are female.
This year in York County, where prosecutors annually recognize the best work done by police, for the first time Wednesday a female officer took home the “Marvin R. Brown Excellence in Law Enforcement Award.”
Prosecutors lauded Daniella Gatti, a Rock Hill Police Department officer assigned to the county’s drug unit, for a case that she worked on for months. Gatti investigated and arrested a drug dealer who sold fentanyl to a teenager in 2024 that ended in an overdose death, prosecutors said. She also charged the dealer with drug trafficking after finding him with fentanyl during a monthslong investigation, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutor Marina Hamilton said Gatti’s “relentless investigation,” ended with the suspect sentenced in June 2025 to 18 years in prison for drug crimes.
“From the first day after the teen died, she said, ‘We are going to find out who did this,’” Hamilton told a crowd at the Moss Justice Center courthouse.
Gatti has been a police officer for 13 years. She went to college and got a degree in biology, but became a cop instead and “has never looked back.” For much of the past decade, she’s been working with the drug unit that includes officers from all York County police agencies.
“I truly want to help people,” Gatti said. “Every single case that my team — and I’ve got an incredible one — every one that we do, it makes a difference.”
About 70 percent of York County criminal cases are connected to narcotics or violent crime related to illegal drugs, according to prosecutors.
16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett, York County’s top prosecutor, created the award in 2021 to honor the 45 years of service of Rock Hill officer Marvin Brown.
Brown ran the county’s drug unit for decades until retiring in 2021. Brown’s commitment to people and their safety and his professionalism remains a standard that merits a yearly award to recognize excellence of those still doing vital public safety work in investigations and court cases, Brackett said.
Brown said he is proud of officers who continue to do important work that protects the public.
The award is voted on by county prosecutors who nominate officers who go “above and beyond” in investigating a case. The other nominees this year were Fort Mill police Detective Devin Aycock and Rock Hill Sgt. Rob Smith.
