Santa Barbara County Sheriff s Office

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Santa Barbara County Sheriff s Office"

Preston Payne
5 years ago
Views:

1 Santa Barbara County Sheriff s Office Kelly Hoover Date: 4/29/2015 Public Information Officer Time: 7:30 p.m. (805) News Release Public Safety Responders to the Isla Vista Mass Murders Recognized at Awards Ceremony Santa Barbara It has been almost one year since a mass murderer terrorized the town of Isla Vista, killing six UCSB students and injuring 14 people. Our thoughts continue to be with those who lost loved ones and whose lives will never be the same. Today, April 29, 2015, a ceremony has held at the Isla Vista Theatre to honor and thank those who responded to and were involved in the aftermath of the Isla Vista Mass Murders. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown and UCSB Police Chief Dustin Olson recognized employees within each of their agencies and other public safety agencies for the role they played in handling this critical incident. The event was emceed by K-LITE morning radio show host Catherine Remak who said, It is gratifying to acknowledge our distinguished public safety heroes, calling attention to their inspiring individual efforts and collective accomplishments. Their bravery, dedication to duty and professional skill highlight the best of human qualities in sharp contrast to the evil that was evident on that terrible day. 3 rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr and UCSB Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher gave opening remarks. Sheriff Bill Brown presented five Sheriff s deputies with the Sheriff s Medal of Valor. Four of the recipients, Deputy Adrien Marquez, Deputy Brian Flick, Deputy Jorden Walker and Sgt. Brad Welch were recognized for their bravery in engaging the suspect in two separate gun battles. Deputy Wayne Johnson, who was with deputies Flick, Walker and Sgt. Welch, was recognized with a Medal of Valor for his decision to prioritize the safety of his fellow deputies and not engage the suspect when his field of fire was obstructed. The Sheriff s Meritorious Service Award was given to Detective Joseph Schmidt who was the lead investigator in the case and who also put together an extensive Investigative Summary of the case that was publically released upon the conclusion of the investigation.

2 The Sheriff s Lifesaving Award was given to two deputies whose actions helped two victims who were critically wounded by the suspect. Deputy Patrick Genovese was honored for coming to the aid of three female victims that had been shot by the suspect at the beginning of the rampage. Deputy Genovese performed life-saving measures on the victim who had survived. Deputy Kenneth Rushing also received the Sheriff s Lifesaving Award for providing medical care and assistance to a male victim who was gravely injured after being shot by the suspect. Sheriff s Lifesaving Awards were also given to eight public safety officials who helped save the life of a Santa Barbara Police Detective. The detective was at the scene to assist with the investigation when he suffered a massive heart attack and went into cardiac arrest at the Isla Vista Foot Patrol station. Thanks to the quick actions taken by seven Sheriff s deputies and a Santa Barbara County Fire Department paramedic assigned to the Sheriff s Special Enforcement Team, the detective survived and was transported to the hospital where he made a full recovery. The Sheriff s Unit Citation Award, a collective award for extraordinary teamwork, was presented twice. First, to the nine Communications Dispatchers who calmly handled the hundreds of phone calls that came pouring in on the night of May 23, The dispatchers worked together cohesively and demonstrated tremendous teamwork and dedication to the first responders and the citizens of Santa Barbara County. Another Sheriff s Unit Citation was presented to the 13 Isla Vista Foot Patrol deputies who were working that evening and responded the critical incident. UCSB Police Chief Dustin Olson also gave out Police Valor Citations, Public Safety Meritorious Service Citations, Public Safety Exceptional Service and Public Safety Meritorious Unit Citations to members of the UCSB Police Department who responded to the tragedy. Lastly, Sheriff Brown and Chief Olson jointly announced the award of the specially created Isla Vista 2014 Commendation Bar to every public safety employee who responded to the incident or played a role in managing it afterwards. Recipients included personnel from the Sheriff s Office, UCPD, California Highway Patrol, American Medical Response, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney s Office, the California Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Santa Barbara Police Department. Sheriff s personnel assigned to Dispatch, Investigations, Forensics, the Coroner s Office, the Special Enforcement Team and Administrative Staff also will receive the Commendation Bar. The Commendation Bar is an enameled pin with a blue field edged in black with the inscription Isla Vista The colors used are especially symbolic. The blue represents the protection, valor, loyalty and professionalism of those who responded to the incident, and the peace that was restored as a result of their efforts. The black edges represent our continued mourning for the six UCSB students who were so tragically slain that evening. Sheriff Brown ended the ceremony by saying, I am of proud of those who served on and after May 23, 2014, and especially of those who ran into harm s way that night and engaged the suspect in two separate gun battles. In doing so the suspect was wounded and put to flight, and very shortly afterwards he committed suicide. I am convinced that if it were not for the swift, resolute and courageous action of those deputies that night, that many more lives would have been lost. You are all true guardians of those we protect and serve, and your remarkable efforts have now become a part of history.

6 ###

MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF S OFFICE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Related Information GC-20, Uniform Specifications Maricopa County Policy A1509 PURPOSE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF S OFFICE POLICY AND PROCEDURES Subject AWARDS Supersedes GC-13 (08-01-14) Policy Number GC-13