By Vernon Clark
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — It was during a violent confrontation with a gunman in Philadelphia’s Port Richmond section last year when “the sister thing really kicked in” for Police Officer Maureen Burns.
A patrol officer with 12 years of service, Burns remembers well that January day when she and her sister, Jennifer Welch, also a patrol officer in the 24th District, cornered a gunman after receiving a report of an armed robbery.
“The suspect was behind a house,” Burns said. “When I was approaching up into the driveway, the male started shooting at me. I was able to fire back once and then I was able to get cover. While I was running for safety, he was actually firing at my sister.”
Another officer arrived and shot the suspect in an arm, Burns said. The wounded gunman then put his gun to his head and fired a fatal shot, she said.
Yesterday, Burns, 39, and Welch, 38, were among 46 officers and 11 civilians honored for heroic deeds at the biannual Police Department commendation awards ceremony at the Fraternal Order of Police hall.
“It’s great to shine a light on these achievements because they represent the best of public service and the best of being human beings,” Managing Director Camille Barnett told the gathering of about 150 police officers and 70 civilians. “It’s great to be with you to celebrate the peace that your heroism brings.”
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey praised the officers as the finest of Philadelphia’s finest.
“This just shows that people like these officers get out there every day to make the streets safer,” Ramsey said.
He presented each officer and civilian hero with a certificate of honor and posed for a photograph with each recipient.
Five officers were given valor awards “for extraordinary acts of courage, with disregard for personal safety, while engaged in combat with an armed adversary.”
Bravery awards were presented to 20 officers “for an outstanding arrest while their effort was met by an armed and dangerous adversary.”
Twenty-one received heroism awards for placing themselves “in imminent danger in an effort to rescue or save a life.”
Burns, standing next to her sister, said she was honored to receive a valor award. Welch received a bravery award.
“When I was there with her in that driveway that day, the sister thing really kicked in because I wanted to protect her,” Burns said of Welch. “When I went to run to her, I just wanted to make sure she was OK.”
Another honoree, Christopher Hess, a civilian engineer, said he was pleased “to be in the right place at the right time and be able to help.”
Hess was walking April 18 in the 1700 block of Kelly Drive when he heard a woman screaming and shouting that her car - with her 6-year-old child inside - was submerged in the Schuylkill after she lost control of it. Nathan Dirvin, 28, a Philadelphia school guidance counselor, was already in the water searching for the vehicle.
Hess said he jumped into the river four times before he was able to pry open a door and remove the child from a safety seat. The child was given CPR by a marine unit police officer, Hess said. The child was taken to a hospital and recovered, Hess said.
Hess and Dirvin were given civilian awards for heroism.
“It all happened so fast. I don’t really know how much time had passed, but it felt like ages,” Hess said of the rescue.
Said Barnett, the managing director: “One of the things that today shows us is that we all have the opportunity, usually when no one else is looking, to make a decision that is heroic.”
Copyright 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer