By Police1 Staff
WASHINGTON — Officers put their lives on the line on a daily basis, but each year a small group is honored with the Congressional Badge of Bravery, honoring their acts of bravery while in the line of duty.
Nominations for the Congressional Badge of Bravery are now open, and agencies can send submissions through Feb. 15, 2018.
The CBOB is one of the only national awards that honors those in law enforcement who have engaged in exceptional acts of bravery while in the line of duty, according to the Badge of Bravery. The acts that will be honored are those that place officers at risk of injury or result in their sustaining a physical injury, and it must have occurred in 2017.
According to the Office of Justice Programs, in order to meet the definition of an act of bravery, nominees must have either:
- Sustained a physical injury while –
- Engaged in the lawful duties of the individual, and
- Performing an act characterized as bravery by the agency head who makes the nomination, and
- Being at personal risk; or
- Although not injured, performed an act characterized as bravery by the agency head who makes the nomination that placed the individual at risk of serious physical injury or death.
Recipients from previous years include a deputy U.S. Marshal who was wounded while engaging with an armed suspect who tried to seize control of a federal facility, and a trooper who entered a burning building without protective gear and rescued an elderly resident.
Congress passed the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act of 2008, which created the Federal Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery and the State and Local Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery.
The medals are awarded by the U.S. Attorney General and are presented by the recipients’ Congressional representatives. Agency heads must submit their submissions to the Congressional Badge of Bravery Office.