Medal of Valor Given to 6 LAPD Officers

Six Los Angeles Police Department officers on Wednesday received the Medal of Valor, the organization’s top honor for acts of courage and bravery.

“These six officers are heroes in every sense of the word,” said Mayor Richard Riordan, who spoke at the awards luncheon. “These officers serve as they do, even with the risks, because they believe in a greater calling, a greater duty.”

Honored at a downtown awards ceremony were:

* Officers Elizabeth Green and Camerino Mesina of the Van Nuys station. On Oct. 14, 1995 they entered an apartment occupied by an armed suspect and evacuated two women and two children. Green was shot several times during the encounter.

* Sgt. Jeffrey Greer of the Office of the Chief of Staff. While off-duty on Sept. 26, 1995, Greer came to the assistance of a neighbor whose life was being threatened by a gang member. The gang member was holding a gun to the neighbor’s head. Greer put himself in the suspect’s line of fire and ultimately shot and disarmed the suspect.

* Sgt. Robert Hamilton and Officer Timothy Russell of the Metropolitan Division. They confronted an armed suspect near a crime scene on Sept. 6, 1995. Without warning, the suspect opened fire, wounding both officers. Despite their injuries, they helped arrest the suspect.

* Officer Charles Wright of the Valley Traffic Division. He pursued three armed gunmen who had just committed a takeover robbery of a business on Sept. 22, 1995. Wright engaged the suspects--who were indiscriminately firing on bystanders--in a gun battle. The suspects were later arrested and no bystanders were injured.

The first Medal of Valor award in the LAPD was presented in 1925. Since then, 449 officers have received the award.