Sgt. Belinda Nettles
(424) 646-5591

LOS ANGELES AIRPORT POLICE HONORS 56 SWORN OFFICERS  AND CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES FOR ACTS OF BRAVERY

     (Los Angeles, California – November 3, 2014) Los Angeles World Airports will host the bi-annual Los Angeles Airport Police Awards Ceremony to honor and celebrate airport police officers and civilians who have demonstrated exceptional bravery and heroism. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 3, 2014 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel-LAX, 6101 Century Blvd., Los Angeles.

      Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Los Angeles City Councilmembers Tom LaBonge, and Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Patrick M. Gannon, will be joined by other city and airport officials during this event. NBC News Weathercaster Fritz Coleman will serve as master of ceremonies and narrator for the program’s award ceremony.

      The 2014 Awards Ceremony will honor six Medal of Valor recipients, 32 Lifesaving Medal recipients, three Police Star recipients, four Distinguished Service Medal recipients, one Humanitarian Service Medal recipient; and 10 Commendation recipients. The awards were earned during various police-involved incidents between 2011 and 2013.

      Chief of Airport Police Patrick M. Gannon said, "I am very proud that we have the opportunity to acknowledge the actions of airport employees who have demonstrated their commitment to keeping our airports safe and secure. This awards ceremony will honor Airport Police and Security Officers, Transportation Security Administration Officers and civilian airport employees for extraordinary service and, in some cases, incredible bravery. I am incredibly grateful for their service. "

     Some of the awards are for officers saving the life of a Mission Hills resident who collapsed in front of Terminal 2 on New Year’s 2011; heroic actions of officers and civilians during the November 1, 2013 shooting at Terminal 3, during which Transportation Security Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez was killed in the line of duty; and special recognition to an officer for a decade of detailed effort to ensure the
honorable and dignified arrivals of U.S. Fallen Soldiers arriving at Los Angeles and LA/Ontario international airports.

     The Los Angeles Airport Police Division is the nation's premier aviation law enforcement agency with over 1,100 specially trained police officers, security officers, and civilian staff protecting Los Angeles International (LAX), LA/Ontario International (ONT), and Van Nuys (VNY) airports.