WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) has announced the selection of Sergeant Alan Jenkins of the Miami-Dade (FL) Police Department as its Officer of the Month for August 2006.

According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety 42,636 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2004. That number would have been increased by two if not for quick thinking and heroism of Sergeant Alan Jenkins. As he drove to work Christmas morning he observed a Jeep Cherokee swerving erratically from lane to lane going approximately 45 miles per hour. He could see that the elderly male driver was unconscious, and that the female passenger was attempting to maintain control of the runaway vehicle from the front passenger's seat.

Realizing that a serious accident was imminent, Sergeant Jenkins requested back-up and immediately activated his emergency equipment. The expressway was heavy with holiday travelers and Sergeant Jenkins feared some would try and pass the SUV. In a desperate attempt to prevent a collision, he positioned his cruiser behind the automobile and drove from side to side and lane to lane to keep the other vehicles at bay. Unfortunately, the female passenger was no longer able to keep control and the SUV swerved toward the center wall of the Palmetto Expressway.

Convinced that it would crash and cause serious injury or death to the occupants, Sergeant Jenkins knew that his only course of action was to force the SUV to stop. He pulled his cruiser alongside the SUV and was able to wedge his front passenger side tire beneath the SUV's front driver side tire. He drove toward the west retaining wall and managed to jam the SUV between the wall and his police car. After approximately 150 yards, the SUV finally came to a stop.

Sergeant Jenkins tried to enter the SUV, but the driver's door was locked. He went to the passenger side of the SUV and climbed the retaining wall hoping to enter from the passenger side. The female passenger, who did not speak or understand English, was so hysterical she was unable to assist Sergeant Jenkins in her own rescue. She was unable to turn the automobile off, switch gears or unlock the doors. Suddenly, the SUV began to roll forward, dislodging itself from the police cruiser. Still on the retaining wall, Sergeant Jenkins was desperate to stop the SUV and resorted to using hand gestures to instruct the passenger how to turn the engine off. Knowing that the driver needed immediate attention, he frantically pointed at the window switch until the woman rolled down the window.

Once inside, Sergeant Jenkins made a preliminary assessment of the driver's vital signs. He was still unconscious, had shallow breathing, and a weak pulse. At that time, Miami-Dade Correctional Officers Daniel Pena and Pedro Ferrer Colon approached and offered their assistance. Sergeant Jenkins asked them to monitor the victim's vital signs while he retrieved the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) from his vehicle.

After attaching the AED to the driver, Sergeant Jenkins monitored the driver's vital signs until the arrival of Fire Rescue units. Officers Pena and Colon had been instrumental in maintaining control of the crowd that had gathered and for providing ready access to the medical team upon their arrival. For all concerned, it turned out to be a very Merry Christmas.

Due to the quick thinking of Sergeant Jenkins, no one was injured in a potentially deadly situation. It is clear that the lives of the driver and passenger of that vehicle were saved that day, as well as the many others who were traveling on the Palmetto Expressway. Jenkins became a local hero for his lifesaving efforts and was awarded the State of Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Officer of the Year for 2005. Throughout his outstanding career, he has been awarded 42 commendations, the Miami-Dade Silver Medal of Valor, Bronze Medal of Valor, three lifesaving awards, and an Employee Excellence Award.

Lieutenant Robert Wilcox of the Miami-Dade (FL) Police Department states, "Sergeant Jenkins continues to demonstrate qualities consistent with a model, professional police officer. This has been acknowledged by his peers and subordinates and he continues to provide a positive role model for others to follow." Sergeant Jenkins is married and has Bachelor of Science degree in Governmental Administration from Christopher Newport College in Newport News, Virginia. He is a member of the Miami-Dade County Police Benevolent Association.

SOCIETY OF FORMER SPECIAL AGENTS OF THE FBI SIGNS ORAL HISTORY TRANSCRIPTS TO THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM

August 9, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) has announced the selection of Lieutenant Kenneth Landwehr of the Wichita (KS) Police Department as Officer of the Month for March 2006.

The citizens of Wichita, Kansas were paralyzed with fear due to a string of brutal homicides from early 1974 to 1978. A serial murderer nicknamed BTK, for Bind-Torture-Kill, was targeting women in the area. Many women were afraid to go home alone and would constantly check their phone line to see if it was dead; a tell tale sign of the killer. The killer's case ran cold in the 1980's and life returned to normal in Wichita. Almost thirty years later in March 2004, the Wichita Eagle, a local newspaper, received a manila envelope from someone claiming to be the BTK killer. The manila envelope contained a letter, three pictures of a crime scene, and the driver's license of a BTK victim that was never recovered. Upon receiving the news of this envelope, Lieutenant Kenneth Landwehr, an investigator on the original BTK killer case, thought to himself, "We're in a lot of trouble."

Landwehr began his career with the Wichita (KS) Police Department 27 years ago. Landwehr was assigned to reexamine a cold case involving a serial killer who went by the name BTK. He was assigned with a captain, a lieutenant and five other investigators. This would be the first time Landwehr would begin to delve into the mind of one of the worst serial killers in the nation's history. Three years later, he was assigned to investigate homicide cases full time and by 1992 he was promoted to Commander of the police homicide unit.

Landwehr became the department's expert on the BTK killer case so it was to no one's surprise when Wichita Police Department's Chief of Police Norman D. Williams assigned Landwehr to head the BTK Task Force. "When I selected Lieutenant Landwehr to head the BTK Task Force, I had complete faith in his ability to get the job done," Williams stated, "I could always count on Lieutenant Lanwehr to do what was best for the investigation, the department, and the community." As head of the BTK Task Force, Lieutenant Landwehr organized and lead one of the largest task forces dedicated to one offender in recent history. Using his leadership, skills and sheer determination for apprehending an offender he had been chasing for the majority of his career, Lieutenant Landwehr allocated recourses, strategically released information to the media, and worked nonstop to lead the 11-month long investigation. During this period, the BTK Task Force received 10 more communications from BTK, followed up on over 5,600 tips from the public, collected almost 1,500 DNA samples and pursued hundreds of other investigative leads.

Lieutenant Landwehr and the BTK Task Force capitalized on BTK's major mistake of sending a letter on a disk. With this evidence, they engineered a "flawless apprehension plan", and arrested Dennis Rader, better known as the BTK killer. Landwehr obtained a full confession from Rader and secured enough evidence against him to ensure a conviction of 10 consecutive life sentences. Lieutenant Landwehr's career long investigation of the BTK serial killer culminated on February 25, 2005 when Landwehr addressed the entire nation at a press conference with his opening statement; "It's over."

Recalling the prosecution of serial killer Richard Grissom Jr. in 1990, Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison states, "He eats, sleeps, and breathes cop work and is relentless. He's also a great guy." Lenexa (KS) Detective Pat Hinkle, who also worked on the Grissom case, described Landwehr as "by far the brightest and most competent detective I've ever been associated with."

Having supervised over 450 homicide investigations in his career with the Wichita Police Department, Lieutenant Landwehr is considered an expert in his field. He currently teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses at the Wichita State University, as well as a Death Investigation course.

Lieutenant Landwehr will be the first to point out that he was not alone by any means on the BTK Task Force. "His humility is one of the traits that make him such a successful leader", states Chief Williams, "He is a credit to the Wichita Police Department and has represented us, often at a national level, in an exemplary manner." Lieutenant Landwehr has received countless awards for his hard work and dedication with the BTK killer. He was recently named Wichita Police Department 2005 Officer of the Year as well as the Law Enforcement Professional of the Year (2005) by the Wichita Crime Commission.

Lieutenant Landwehr continues to serve the community as the Commander of the Wichita Police Department Homicide Section and is the Director of the Mid-States Homicide Investigators Association. He enjoys his position within the department and believes "there are other cases to solve."

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) has announced the selection of Deputies Jennifer Fulford and Dwayne Martin of the Orange County (FL) Sheriff's Office as its Officers of the Month for January 2006.

On May 5, 2004 at approximately 7:49 a.m., as Isola Allen was preparing to drive her son to school, three men appeared in the driveway, forcing the mother of three back into her home. Although terrified, quick thinking 8 year old Dextin, retrieved his mother's cell phone from her purse, and dialed 911. Deputies Fulford and Martin were among the first to respond to the burglary in progress call. They had been advised that the 8 year old boy, who had made the call, was locked in a van along with his two-year old twin sisters, while three men with guns forced his mother back into the house.

While some deputies formed a perimeter around the house, Deputy Fulford took up a position next to the van in an attempt to get the children out of the area. Regrettably, she found the children too frightened to open the doors. At that same moment, Ms. Allen exited from the rear of the residence screaming for her children, and two armed men burst into the garage taking up positions in the front and rear of the van, cutting off any escape route for Deputy Fulford.

One gunman immediately opened fire. Deputy Fulford returned fire hitting the suspect who continued shooting while sliding down the wall into a seated position. The second gunman shot at the deputy from across the hood of the van hitting her several times. Deputy Fulford was hit in the right knee, left ankle, her thigh, and buttocks. As bullets ricocheted off the concrete floor Deputy Fulford was shot in the right shoulder, damaging a nerve and rendering her right shooting hand useless. With her weak hand, Deputy Fulford reloaded her sidearm and continued engaging the suspects.

With two gunshot wounds to his head, the second gunman managed to stumble out of the garage, just as Deputy Martin rounded the corner. Although the gunman shot the deputy in the shoulder, Deputy Martin returned fire, took down the suspect and provided armed protection for Deputy Fulford until a team was able to tactically remove her from the garage.

The gun battle lasted less than a minute, during which time Deputy Fulford was struck by 10 rounds; seven causing severe wounds and three striking various pieces of her duty equipment. Deputy Martin suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder during the incident. One suspect was pronounced dead on the scene, the other succumbed to his gunshot sounds eight days later. The third suspect, who remained in the house during the melee, surrendered without incident.

While certainly the victim in this deadly home invasion, Mrs. Allen and her husband, who was out of the country at the time, were later arrested as police found 341 pounds of marijuana and $54,000 in cash inside the house. The whole purpose of the home invasion was to steal the contraband the gunmen knew was in the house.

For their extraordinary actions taken that morning, Deputies Jennifer Fulford and Dwayne Martin received the National Association of Police Organization’s 2005 TOP COPS Awards.

For his courage Deputy Sheriff Dwayne Martin was awarded the Purple Heart and Combat Ribbon. He believes that Deputy Fulford and he were "in God's hands that day. Sheriff Kevin E. Beary states, "The bond between law enforcement officers is one that is difficult to fathom to those outside the profession and was epitomized that day by the actions of Deputy Martin." A member of the Homeland Protection Unit, Deputy Dwayne Martin continues to serve the community where he, his wife, and three children reside.

Reflecting on the incident, Deputy Jennifer Fulford said, "When you go through something like that, mindset is important. I was not going to die in that garage." Amazingly, Deputy Fulford returned to active duty four months later and was married in September 2004. One bullet was unable to be removed and she still suffers from some nerve damage in her right arm. For her extraordinary act of valor, Deputy Fulford was awarded the Presidential Public Safety Officer's Medal of Valor as well as a myriad of other awards including the National Sheriff's Officer of the Year and Purple Heart Awards, Parade Magazine/ IACP Officer of the Year Award, and the Fraternal Order of Police Officer of the Year Award. Deputy Fulford continues to serve and protect her community with the Orange County Sheriff's Office and is a member of the Child Abuse Unit.

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