National Association of Police Organizations Honors America's Finest Eighth Annual TOP COPS(R) Awards

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Police
 Organizations (NAPO) is pleased to present its list of winners and honorable
 mentions for the Eighth Annual TOP COPS Awards(R), announced NAPO Executive
 Director Robert T. Scully today.
     The TOP COPS Awards(R) pay tribute to law enforcement officers from across
 the country for outstanding service to their communities during the preceding
 year.  The TOP COPS(R) were nominated by fellow officers and selected from
 hundreds of nominations by an Awards Committee.  Officers from the top eleven
 cases have been chosen as the 2001 TOP COPS(R).  In each remaining state, one
 case has been selected for which the officer(s) will receive an Honorable
 Mention award.  (Please see below list of winners.)
     "The TOP COPS Awards(R) provide an opportunity for all of us to recognize
 some of the brave men and women in America's law enforcement community who
 selflessly put their lives on the line day in and day out," said Scully.  "Law
 enforcement officers care deeply about the citizens and communities they
 serve, and this honor is one way of letting them know their contributions are
 not taken for granted."
     The Eighth Annual TOP COPS Awards(R) ceremony will be held at the Warner
 Theatre in Washington, DC on Thursday, October 25, 2001, at 7:00 p.m.  Hotel
 lodging is at the Crowne Plaza Washington, DC.  General admission tickets for
 the ceremony are $25 and tickets to the post reception with TOP COPS(R),
 celebrities and Members of Congress are $75.
     The Master of Ceremony for this prestigious event is John Walsh, host of
 Fox's America's Most Wanted.  America's Most Wanted will air portions of the
 Eighth Annual TOP COPS Awards(R) ceremony during one of its Saturday night
 episodes in November.  The ceremony will feature the hit television show's
 signature reenactments of the TOP COPS(R) cases, as well as a special tribute
 to the fallen and missing officers of September 11.
     Barring any schedule changes, we expect the following celebrity award
 presenters: Al Roker of NBC's Today Show, Michael Beach, Coby Bell, Amy
 Carlson, Eddie Cibrian, Kim Raver, Anthony Ruivivar, Skipp Sudduth and Jason
 Wiles of NBC's Third Watch; Richard Belzer and Dann Florek of NBC's Law &
 Order: Special Victims Unit and Yaphet Kotto of NBC's Homicide: Life on the
 Street.  Many other television celebrities are still confirming.  Also
 expected are several members of Congress and the Administration.
 
     The National Association of Police Organizations is a national law
 enforcement organization representing 220,000 sworn law enforcement officers
 and 4,000 police unions and associations throughout the country.  Based in
 Washington, DC, NAPO fights for the rights of law enforcement officers through
 federal legislation, legal advocacy and education.  TOP COPS Awards(R)
 proceeds will benefit the Police Research and Education Project, NAPO's sister
 educational organization; the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
 and Concerns of Police Survivors.
 
     ARIZONA
     Officer Franklin Edward Brown, Phoenix Police Department
 
     CALIFORNIA
     Officer James M. Gantt, Oakland Police Department
 
     FLORIDA
     Detectives Eddie Garcia, James McDonnell, and William Sanchez; and Officer
      Pedro Polo
     Miami-Dade Police Department
 
     HAWAII
     Detective Earl Koanui, Jr., Honolulu Police Department
 
     LOUISIANA
     Lieutenant Jeff Winn, New Orleans Police Department
 
     MARYLAND
     Lieutenant Roosevelt Carter, Defense Protective Service Police
 
     MINNESOTA
     Officers Michael Blood, Shelby Lane, Billie D. Moir, and Jim Rygg; and
      Sergeant Scott Kuyper, Edina Police Department
 
     NEW YORK
     Detective Mike Zeller, New York City Police Department
 
     TEXAS
     Officer Richard B. Perkins, Houston Police Department
 
     WISCONSIN
     Deputy Sheriff William D. Kelly, Chippewa County Sheriff's Department
 
     INTERNATIONAL
     Senior Special Agent Eric Andreucci and Special Agent Marshall Heeger,
      U.S. Customs Service Cyber Smuggling Center, Fairfax, VA
     Attache Michael Woodworth, U.S. Customs Service, American Embassy, Moscow
 
     2001 NAPO TOP COPS Awards(R) Honorable Mentions
 
     *  ALABAMA - K-9 Officer Andy Sutley, Dothan Police Department
     *  ARKANSAS - Sergeant Greg Lovett, Prairie Grove Police Department
     *  COLORADO - Sergeant Daniel P. O'Shea, Denver Police Department
     *  CONNECTICUT - Officer Bruce J. Rosa, Stamford Police Department
     *  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - Detective James Trainum, Metropolitan Police
        Department
     *  DELAWARE - Special Agent Paul D. Gemmato, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
        and Firearms and Detective Richard D. Iardella, Wilmington Police
        Department
     *  GEORGIA - Criminal Investigator Jackie Crawford, Tallapoosa Police
        Department
     *  ILLINOIS - Lieutenant John A. Laskey, Chicago Police Department
     *  INDIANA - Detective Christopher Pugh, Evansville Police Department
     *  KANSAS - Officer Darryl S. Hayes, Westwood Police Department
     *  KENTUCKY - Special Agent Robert M. Young, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
        and Firearms
     *  MASSACHUSETTS - Sergeant Detective Gregory S. Kasabian, Tyngsboro
        Police Department
     *  MICHIGAN - Officers Rodney Durham and Bradford C. Bullock, Detroit
        Police Department
     *  MISSISSIPPI - Special Agent Ryan L. Spradlin, U.S. Customs Service
     *  MONTANA - Special Agent John Nielsen, Internal Revenue Service/CID;
        Senior Special Agent Chuck Mazzilli, U.S. Customs Service; and Special
        Agent Daniel Horgan, Environmental Protection Agency/CID
     *  NEBRASKA - Investigator Dail Fellin, Nebraska State Patrol
     *  NEW HAMPSHIRE - Officers Ronald J. Welliver and Daniel Donahue, Nashua
        Police Department
     *  NEVADA - Detectives George Sherwood and Robert Rogers, Las Vegas
        Metropolitan Police Department
     *  OHIO - Special Agent Peter J. Elliott, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
        Firearms
     *  PENNSYLVANIA - Investigator Maureen Powers, Sergeant George Reutter and
        Police Officer Anthony Kisielius, Amtrak Police Department
     *  RHODE ISLAND - Patrolmen Brian T. McNally Sr. and Frank C. Villella,
        Providence Police Department
     *  SOUTH CAROLINA - Lance Corporal Donald Lee Thompson, South Carolina
        Department of Public Safety
     *  TENNESSEE - Sergeant Evan Ward, Lewis County Sheriff's Department
     *  VIRGINIA - Sergeant Ronald B. Henry, Virginia Department of Game &
        Inland Fisheries
     *  WASHINGTON - Lieutenant Jim Lundgren, Detectives Larry O. Bowman, Minde
        Connelly, Ben Estes, Brian Hamond, Marty Hill, and John T. Miller,
        Spokane Police Department; Lieutenant Doug Silver, Captain John
        Simmons, Sergeant Cal Walker, and Detectives David Bentley, Rick
        Grabenstein, Terry Hammer and Fred Ruetsch, Spokane County Sheriff's
        Office; and Detective Major Bambino, Washington State Patrol
 
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SOURCE  National Association of Police Organizations