Law enforcement officers are challenged daily in the performance of their duties; they face each challenge freely and unselfishly while answering the call to duty. In certain instances, their actions warrant special attention from their respective departments. The Bulletin also wants to recognize those situations that transcend the normal rigors of the law enforcement profession.
Officers David Haas and Christina Martinez of the Cordele, Georgia Police Department responded to a call involving a woman armed with a knife and threatening to harm herself. The officers tried to initiate dialogue with her but were unsuccessful. At this time, she laid on nearby tracks in the path of an oncoming train. Immediately, Officer Haas pulled her to safety, just before its arrival. Thanks to the compassionate and brave response of Officers Haas and Martinez, the woman remained unharmed and received the treatment she needed.
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In an attempt to end her life, a woman jumped 97 feet from a bridge into a muddy river and began to float downstream with the swift current. A citizen who witnessed the incident drove down to the water’s edge, entered, and began to swim to her. Sergeant Josh Garrett and Officer Ben Marshall of the Jackson, Alabama Police Department responded to the call and also drove to the shore. They then ran approximately one-quarter of a mile in ankle-deep mud, negotiating dangerous obstacles and ignoring the possibility of encountering snakes and alligators, to catch up with the two people in the river. At this point, not only did the woman need to be rescued but the citizen was exhausted from swimming against the current. Disregarding their own safety, Sergeant Garrett and Officer Marshall entered the swift water, took rescue lines to the woman and her would-be rescuer, and pulled them both to safety.. |
Nominations for the Bulletin Notes should be based on either the rescue of one or more citizens or arrest(s) made at unusual risk to an officer’s safety. Submissions should include a short write-up (maximum of 250 words), a separate photograph of each nominee, and a letter from the department’s ranking officer endorsing the nomination. Submissions should be sent to the Editor, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, FBI Academy, Law Enforcement Communication Unit, Hall of Honor, Quantico, VA 22135.
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July 2009 | FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
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