President Obama Honors 15 Detroit Police Officers As Nation's Top Cops
DETROIT (WWJ) - President Barack Obama honored the nation's top police officers on Saturday, including 15 officers from the Detroit Police Department, paying tribute to their sacrifices and "quiet courage" in the line of duty.
It was all part of a White House ceremony that honored 34 officers who showed valor in an assortment of tense standoffs, shootings and rescues.
Among this year's award winners are 15 members of the Detroit Police Department who confronted a gunman who opened fire in a local precinct station in January 2011.
Those honored from the DPD include:
- Police Officer Melissa Adams
- Police Officer David Anderson
- Sergeant Marcellus A. Ball
- Police Officer Bradley Clark
- Police Officer Rodney Cushingberry
- Commander Brian L. Davis
- Sergeant Tyrone Guinn
- Sergeant Michael Ingels
- Police Officer Theodore Jackson, Jr.
- Sergeant James Kirklin
- Police Officer Lacell D. Rue
- Sergeant Ray Toufic Saati
- Sergeant Carrie Schulz
- Investigator Amir G. Smith
- Sergeant Joseph Turner, Jr.
Other recipients include five Las Vegas officers who stopped an assailant who shot an officer at a Wal-Mart; and five New York City police detectives who rescued two cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who had become disoriented while rock climbing. Other award winners hailed from Los Angeles; Miami; Chicago; Woburn, Mass.; Paramus, N.J.; Copley, Ohio; and Chattanooga, Tenn.
The officers were invited to the White House as part of the National Association of Police Organizations' annual TOP COPS awards.
Since 1994, NAPO has conferred TOP COPS awards on law enforcement officers from around the country for performing actions above and beyond the call of duty during the preceding year.
