Recognition for HUMANITARIAN acts?

[Kieth M.]

Hey all - I know that some departments have no recognition programs, whatsoever (a very sad state of affairs, BTW), but for those who do; does your department have any formal recognition of humanitarian deeds?

LAPD has the Human Relations Medal, intended to recognize employees who go "above and beyond" in their treatment of others. Some of the past recipients have (1) replaced Christmas for a family who had all their gifts stolen, (2) returned a mentally ill homeless man lost in Los Angeles all the way back to Japan after he'd been missing seven years, (3) obtained Vet treatment for a shot dog, belonging to a homeless man, and went on to get that man a job and a home.

Want to know if other PD's have anything similar...

[L-1]

Keith,

Please forgive me as it is not my intention to hijack your thread, but while we are speaking of recognition, I would like to also mention another issue of civilians as well.

Most agencies don’t have a program for recognizing civilians when they commit an extraordinary act. A thoughtful agency head may write them a nice letter, or arrange for the City Council Or Board of Supervisors to present them with a resolution acknowledging whatever they may have done. But there is another, national recognition program many are unaware of that law enforcement agencies can avail themselves of.

The Carnegie Hero Fund was created in 1904 to recognize civilians who voluntarily risks their own lives, knowingly, to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person.

The act of heroism must have occurred in the United States, Canada, or the waters thereof (12 nautical miles). The act must be brought to the attention of the Commission within two years of the date of its occurrence.

The act of rescue must be one in which no full measure of responsibility exists between the rescuer and the rescued. Persons not eligible for awards are: Those whose duties in following their regular vocations require them to perform such acts, unless the rescues are clearly beyond the line of duty, and members of the immediate family, except in cases of outstanding heroism where the rescuer loses his or her life or is severely injured. Members of the armed services and children considered by the Commission to be too young to comprehend the risks involved are also ineligible for consideration.

There must be conclusive evidence to support the threat to the victim’s life, the risk undertaken by the rescuer, the rescuer’s degree of responsibility, and the act’s occurrence.

Law enforcement agencies may nominate civilians for consideration both online or in writing. The commission will ask for extensive documentation in support of the nomination.

If selected, the civilian will receive a cash award and a gold medal from the commission. Awards are presented at press conferences where the recipients’ acts that earned the recognition are made public.

Obtaining the award not only brings well earned recognition for the civilian, but in the public’s eye it also reflects favorably upon the law enforcement agency that made the nomination.

The Carnegie Hero Fund can be reached at http://carnegiehero.org/

[just joe]

Other than a Letter of Commendation, no.

[tanksoldier]

does your department have any formal recognition of humanitarian deeds?

Not sure if it's what you had in mind but the last three deputies who have been decorated in our jail were recognized for saving inmates from suicide attempts.

[Kieth M.]

Please forgive me as it is not my intention to hijack your thread, but while we are speaking of recognition, I would like to also mention another issue of civilians as well.

Most agencies don’t have a program for recognizing civilians when they commit an extraordinary act. A thoughtful agency head may write them a nice letter, or arrange for the City Council Or Board of Supervisors to present them with a resolution acknowledging whatever they may have done. But there is another, national recognition program many are unaware of that law enforcement agencies can avail themselves of.

I don't consider it a hijack, at all. The more people recognized whether they work for the PD, or are just civilians, shows that a police department is paying attention and saying thanks for a job well done. LAPD had a medal level of recognition available to civilians and outside LE agency members who went "above and beyond" on behalf of the PD, or its members.

Thanks for the Carnegie info. Had I known the process a good 20 years ago, I would have submitted a friend for it.

[CruiserClass]

You get a nice attaboy, they feed the story to the media, and an e-mail of how awesome you are is sent around the department.

[GC Tiger]

We gave out 3 life saving awards this year. I received one of them for performing CPR on a guy that was having a heart attack. The other two pulled a guy out of a car that his a gas line.