Biden, Holder praise police for bravery

After sustained criticism that President Obama and his advisers have failed to support police officers, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Vice President Joseph R. Biden heaped praise Wednesday on police and firefighters at a ceremony honoring 22 of their colleagues for valor.

“We owe you big,” Mr. Biden told the honorees and their families at the White House. “You’re a rare breed. You’re all crazy. We love you for it. We need you. You are the best thing we have going for us.”

Mr. Holder, whose department is preparing to release its long-awaited findings in a civil rights probe of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department, said the honorees are “true American heroes.”

The attorney general said the awards were “a fitting reminder at a time when this country is grappling with deep challenges involving public safety, law enforcement and community engagement.”

“The work being done by those guarding our neighborhoods and protecting our nation is exceptional, essential, and it is extraordinary,” Mr. Holder said.

The administration came under heavy criticism for its response to public protests after the deaths of black men in confrontations with police in Ferguson and in New York City last year. Mr. Holder criticized the Ferguson police department, although his department’s probe is not expected to bring charges against former Officer Darren Wilson, who shot black teenager Michael Brown.

Mr. Obama, who questioned the Ferguson department’s use of military-style equipment to quell protests, was criticized for holding a summit on tensions in minority communities that failed to include any police officers from Ferguson. And when a black gunman assassinated two New York City police officers in December, Mr. Holder and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, were accused by some of provoking anti-police sentiments.

Mr. Holder said the president and his team are working “tirelessly” with community leaders “to reduce tensions wherever they have been exposed.” He said a presidential task force on 21st century policing will provide “strong new national direction to the profession … on a scale not seen since the Johnson administration.”

“We owe it to our courageous public safety officials to confront every threat that they may face, to foster the trust that lies at the core of their efforts and to honor all that they do to defend this nation and to safeguard its people,” Mr. Holder said.

Among those honored with the Medal of Valor, the nation’s highest award for public safety officials, were Special Agent John Capano of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, killed by an armed robbery suspect in New York in 2011, and Chicago Police Lt. Clifton Lewis, also killed in 2011 during an armed robbery.

Other honorees included five FBI agents who rescued a child during a hostage situation in Alabama in February 2013, and seven police officers and firefighters from Watertown, Massachusetts, who responded to the shootout involving the Boston Marathon bombing suspects in April 2013.

Besides Agent Capano and Lt. Lewis, the recipients are:

⦁ Sgt. Nathan Hutchinson of the Weber County, Utah, sheriff’s office;

⦁ Officer Andrew Keith of the Knoxville, Tennessee, police department;

⦁ Sgt. Bradley Wick of the Duluth, Minnesota, police department;

⦁ Sgt. Michael Brown of the Brevard County, Florida, sheriff’s office;

⦁ Lt. Brian Murphy and Officer Savan Lenda of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin police;

⦁ Sgt. John MacLellan, Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese, Officer Joseph Reynolds, Officer Timothy Menton, Officer Miguel Colon Jr., firefighter James Caruso and firefighter Patrick Menton, all of Watertown, Massachusetts;

⦁ Former Fire Chief John Curly of Bellmore, New York;

⦁ FBI special agents Brocklyn Bahe, Christian Galeski, Matthew Nagle, Joseph Montoya and Rodney Draper;

⦁ Deputy Jenna Underwood-Nunez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.