The Washington Report
October 23, 1998
FIFTH ANNUAL TOP COPS AWARDS® A HUGE SUCCESS!
PRESIDENT HONORS 1998 TOP COPS® IN ROSE GARDEN CEREMONYOver 600 people, our largest attendance to date, joined us in Washington, DC, on Thursday, October 8, 1998 to honor the 1998 NAPO TOP COPS Awards® winners! NAPO members, members of Congress, television celebrities and leaders from the law enforcement community gathered to share the ultimate tribute to the nation’s TOP COPS®. On Friday, October 9, 1998, President Clinton congratulated the winners in the Oval Office and held a special ceremony in the Rose Garden expressing his gratitude to the TOP COPS® and the nation’s law enforcement officers. NAPO President Thomas J. Scotto and Attorney General Janet Reno also spoke during the ceremony.
Hosted by the National Association of Police Organizations, the TOP COPS Awards® pay tribute to law enforcement officers from across the country for outstanding service to their communities during the preceding year. The TOP COPS® were nominated by fellow officers and selected by an awards committee from hundreds of nominations. Officers from the top ten cases were chosen as the 1998 TOP COPS®. In each remaining state, one case was selected, and that officer(s) received an Honorable Mention award. This year, there were 34 individual TOP COPS® from the top ten cases. Nearly 40 Honorable Mention award winners also traveled to Washington, DC to take part in the ceremony.
The Masters of Ceremony for the prestigious event were Richard Belzer of NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" and Lynne Russell of CNN's "Headline News," who is also a reserve deputy sheriff. Also on hand to present awards were S. Epatha Merkerson, of NBC's "Law & Order," Ed Marinaro of "Hill Street Blues," U.S. Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), U.S. Representative Matthew Martinez (D-CA), Charley Casserly, General Manager, Washington Redskins, former Attorney General Edwin Meese, III, Administrator Thomas Constantine, Drug Enforcement Administration, Director John Magaw, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Chairman Craig Floyd, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
Although his duties regarding appropriations negotiations went well into the night and prevented him from attending, Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich (R-GA), in a statement issued to the press said, "As Americans, we cannot under estimate the tremendous value of the men and women in blue who each day risk their lives in order to protect our communities, our neighborhoods and our homes. I am pleased to join in honoring the daily sacrifices made by our nation’s police officers and especially tonight’s honorees."
NAPO would like to take this opportunity to issue a very special thank you to all NAPO members who purchased tables and tickets to the Fifth Annual TOP COPS Awards® ceremony. We appreciate not only your enthusiasm for the event, but also your financial support, without which this ceremony would not have been possible.
The location and date for the Sixth Annual TOP COPS Awards is to be announced soon; please start thinking about possible nominees for next year! We will be sending you nomination forms in just a few months!
What follows is a complete listing of the 1998 TOP COPS®. For more information on a
particular case, please contact Jody Couser at the
NAPO office.
ARKANSAS, Trooper First Class Ted Grigson, Arkansas State Police
CALIFORNIA, Officer Don Anderson, Detective Vincent Bancroft, Jr., Officer Edward
Brentlinger, Officer John Caprarelli, Sergeant Steven Gomez, Detective Kevin A. Harley,
Officer Richard A. Massa, Officer Dean R. Schram, Officer Conrado Torrez and Officer
Richard Zielinski, Los Angeles Police Department
FLORIDA, K-9 Officer Malcom Thompson, Kissimmee Police Department
*Winner of the Prestigious Citizen’s Choice Award, Voted on by NAPO’s Associate Members!
INDIANA, Sergeant Dawn Higgins, Indianapolis Police Department
NEW HAMPSHIRE, Trooper First Class Charles M. West, New Hampshire State Police
NEW YORK, Officer Joseph Dolan, Sergeant John A. English, Jr., Officer Michael F. Keenan, Officer David Martinez, Lieutenant Owen C. McCaffrey, Deputy Inspector Raymond McDermott, Captain Ralph Pascullo, Officer Mario Zorovic, New York City Police Department
UTAH, Sergeant Jim Potter, Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office
WASHINGTON, D.C./MARYLAND/VIRGINIA, (DEA Group Task Force) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Frank J. Chellino, Detective Sergeant Thomas P. Coppinger, Group Supervisor Timothy L. Estep, Detective Gary Gibson, Corporal Michael Grant, Detective Joseph Marchi, Corporal Jason Merson, Detective Thomas J. Wise and a Special Agent from the DEA whose name cannot be released.
WEST VIRGINIA, Sergeant Michael E. Spradlin, West Virginia State Police
WISCONSIN, Officer Timothy G. Hahn, Madison Police Department
RIGHTS CENTER ACTIVITY
NAPO’s National Law Enforcement Officers’ Rights Center has been very busy! Aside from filing a brief to the New York Court of Appeals in PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. PATRICIA FEERICK, MAYRA SCHULTZ, JOHN DeVITO and ORLANDO ROSARIO (a press release was issued regarding this case, please call the NAPO office for a copy), the Right’s Center is currently working on two appellate amicus curiae briefs, both due on November 10, 1998.
The first brief will be filed with the United States Supreme Court in a search and seizure case from Wyoming. The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that a search of a purse belonging to a passenger, found in the back seat of a car stopped for a traffic violation, was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The Wyoming court held that the officers had probable cause only to search generally for drugs belonging to the driver and could not search the property of others. The driver had an empty syringe in his pocket and admitted to using drugs to the officers, which gave rise to probable cause to conduct the search of the car. The officers then found drug two syringes and a vial of a methamphetamine in the passenger’s purse. (Ironically, only the passenger was arrested, because the driver’s empty syringe would have been difficult to test.) The Rights Center brief will make the point that the complicated three-step formula developed by the Wyoming court, in order to conduct searches of passenger belongings in a vehicle, is unrealistic and entirely unworkable.
The Colorado Court of Appeals will hear a case involving disclosure of internal affairs files and investigative records. The ACLU sued the City and County of Denver to obtain disclosure of departmental internal affairs (IA) records (including Garrity-protected statements of over 20 officers and statements by 76 other witnesses). This investigation arose out of a car crash involving a stolen vehicle and a Denver police car, in which a police officer was killed. Questions arose as to the treatment of the defendant thief, as he was pulled from the car. The two officers were minimally disciplined (one for a tangential infraction), and both have intervened in the case. The lower court ruled in the ACLU’s favor, based on the media attention given this matter, and completely rejected the expectations of confidentiality and privacy attached to witness interviews and other IA records. The Rights Center has asked permission of the court to file an amicus brief, and approval is expected.
NAPO will keep you informed on the outcome of these cases.
CONGRESS PASSES ‘CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT’
The last bill to pass the 105th Congress was the ‘Correctional Officers Health and Safety Act,’ which would allow a federal prison to conduct tests if there is a "well-founded reason to believe" that the inmate is at risk, or that the inmate’s bodily fluids came into contact with prison employees or visitors who decide that they would like a test to be conducted.
While this victory will only benefit correctional officers within the federal system, NAPO will continue to fight for a similar piece of legislation to protect all public safety officers nationwide.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
If you want to own the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Silver Dollar, you had better place your order now, because sales will end on December 15, 1998, officials from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial warned. Since last December, an estimated 150,000 of the commemorative silver dollars have been sold by the United States Mint. However, the authorizing law enacted by Congress in 1996 permits as many as 500,000 of the coins to be issued, and any of the silver dollars that remain unsold after December 15, 1998, will be destroyed.
"This commemorative coin program is one of the greatest honors ever bestowed upon the law enforcement community," declared Craig W. Floyd, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Commemorative Coin was specifically authorized by Congress to recognize the sacrifice of law enforcement officers and their families in preserving public safety. Ten dollars from the sale of each coin will go to a maintenance endowment fund for the Memorial.
"In addition to paying a very special tribute to our fallen officers and their families, this coin has become the gift of choice for the law enforcement professional – a wonderful collectable that will be passed down from one generation to another," Floyd commented. The obverse side of the coin features an engraving of two police officers touching the wall of remembrance at the Memorial. The coin’s reverse side is emblazoned with the Memorial’s emblem, a law enforcement shield with a rose draped across in honor of our fallen officers. Under the shield and rose is the inscription, "To Serve and Protect," law enforcement’s guiding principle.
The coins are priced at $32 for the uncirculated version, $37 for the proof version, $58 for the insignia set (includes coin, limited edition Memorial patch and lapel pin), $62 for the money clip, and $70 for the coin pendant. Price discounts are offered for sales of 100 or more coins. ORDERS CAN BE PLACED BY CALLING 1-800-USA-MINT.
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