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The Julie Y. Cross Award
This award honors a sworn federal law enforcement officer for an act of
exceptional courage or heroism. The
award is named in memory of United States Secret Service Agent Julie Y. Cross
who gave her life in the line of duty. The
individual receiving this award must have displayed an unusual degree of
courage, stamina, and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty,
resulting in exceptional heroic achievement in the field of law enforcement.
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Julie
Y. Cross Award
Special
Agent Susan M. Gerstberger
United States
Secret Service
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On
September 11, 2001
, after assisting with the
evacuation of 7
World Trade Center
,
New York
City, S/A Gerstberger set up a
triage area across from the
North
Tower
.
Debris and bodies were falling dangerously close to her and the victims
while she was trying to administer first aid. S/A Gerstberger relocated to a
second location where vehicles caught on fire that necessitated her moving the
victims to a third location. While
assisting victims at this location, the first tower started to collapse.
S/A Gerstberger was trapped in the debris during the collapse until she
was rescued by firefighters, just minutes before the collapse of the second
tower. S/A Gerstberger evacuated the
area without her shoes, which came off during the first tower collapse & Continued to render first aid to victims at the scene.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Linda Benton
Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
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S/A Benton
initiated an investigation into a criminal group that preyed on mentally
disabled individuals and children taking them into “protective care” in
order to defraud numerous state and federal agencies of compensation belonging
to her victims. S/A Benton in
coordination with the United States Attorney’s Office proved that the leader
was a violent felon in possession of a firearm and by use of force and threat of
force coerced her victims. S/A
Benton led the investigation soliciting support from several state, local and
federal agencies.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Denise Montgomery
Bureau
of Diplomatic Security, Department of State
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S/A Montgomery while
tasked on a protective detail for a Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam, prevented an individual from lighting two gasoline soaked
torches that were directed towards the protectee.
S/A Montgomery physically restrained the individual from accomplishing
this potentially disastrous attack.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Laura Youngblood
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
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S/A Youngblood
launched an extensive investigation into official police corruption that
involved the coordination of over 200 witnesses and resulted in the federal
conviction of four police officers for the illegal distribution of crack
cocaine, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting.
These police officers used their official positions to protect an illegal
drug ring. The investigative hurdles
were many - all overcome by the sheer dedication and determination of Agent
Youngblood.
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Outstanding
Law Enforcement Employee
This award
honors an outstanding employee in the field of law enforcement.
The objective is to recognize an individual who has shown exceptional
performance throughout one’s career and who serves as a role model for women
in law enforcement.
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Outstanding
Law Enforcement Employee
Special
Agent Renae Marie Hilton
Air
Force, Office of Special Investigations
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S/A Hilton
serves as a forensic science consultant for 22 states and trains agents on
state-of-the-art forensic techniques to solve serious crimes.
Agent Hilton specializes in child forensic interviews and child sexual
assault investigations and has successfully linked subjects and victims to crime
scenes resulting in prosecutions. Agent
Hilton lectures at the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute on child
forensic interviewing and the
Air
Force
Special
Investigations
Academy
teaching collection and
preservation of forensic evidence. S/A
Hilton responded to the Pentagon where she worked at the on-site morgue and
where her expertise was utilized in the identification of the fallen victims of
the terrorist attack.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Brooke M. Harris
Defense
Criminal Investigation Service
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S/A Harris
conducts investigations involving fraud against Department of Defense agencies.
Her investigations have resulted in the recovery of DOD helicopters and
parts; a property valued at approximately 2 million dollars.
Other investigations have resulted in the significant return of monies to
the Medicare Program from healthcare companies in civil fines.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Kathleen Kelleher
Drug
Enforcement Administration
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S/A Kelleher is a seasoned undercover narcotics agent.
One investigation involved infiltrating a violent drug ring responsible
for the homicide of a 15-year-old girl. She
successfully penetrated the drug ring, obtaining evidence that was used
successfully in the prosecution of the homicide. The murderer received a life
sentence. Other undercover
investigations have resulted in the identification of major drug operations in
the Providence-Cape Cod area. In
each investigation S/A Kelleher purchased heroin or cocaine, gained the trust of
the armed suspects, and gathered sufficient evidence that was used in a number
of federal prosecutions.
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Distinguished
Honorable Mention
Special
Agent Barbara Sullivan
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
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S/A
Sullivan conducts investigations into financial accounting fraud.
One of the most notable investigations resulted in the collapse of a
Silicon Valley
computer company charging defendants with mail, wire
and bank fraud, insider trading and false statements to the SEC.
This case serves as the model for the handling of white-collar fraud
cases.
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Outstanding
Advocate for Women in Law Enforcement
This award
recognizes the contributions of an individual toward the elimination of systemic
barriers to career opportunities for women in law enforcement.
The award recognizes a person who is an advocate, advisor, and leader in
the continued support of women in law enforcement.
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Outstanding
Advocate for Women in Law Enforcement
Supervisory
Special Agent Elizabeth Nguyen-Espinoza
Internal
Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division
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Supervisory
S/A Elizabeth Nguyen-Espinoza has been a model in the continuous advocacy of
women in law enforcement. Her
early involvement consisted of writing articles targeting Vietnamese-Americans
about tax law. She has been on university panels discussing racism, ethnicity
and gender issues. She became the
first Vietnamese-American supervisor within the IRS, CID. Agent Nguyen-Espinoza
was elected to the International Association of Asian Crime Investigators and at
the time the only woman on the board. In
2001, she was selected as one of the Diversity Council members in IRS and
devised a plan that would improve the recruitment and retention of agents.
She exercises her leadership role by actively being involved in writing
and making presentations at conferences addressing gender and race issues in the
context of law enforcement. She is
the author of Workplace Diversity in the IRS, CI: What Does it Mean and Why Does
It Matter? This article particularly
addresses the role of women in the workplace.
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Distinguished Honorable
Mention
Special
Agent Dawn Byrd-Smith (posthumous)
Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
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S/A Dawn
Byrd-Smith while dealing with a grave illness continued to aggressively pursue
an outreach program for women and minorities focusing on recruiting potential
candidates to ATF. She promoted
diversity and enlisted the support and acceptance for the diversity program from
peers, educators and business professionals.
In addition to her Diversity Career Impact Program she also worked on
criminal investigations in a team concept within her office.
She never complained, earned the complete admiration of her peers and
supervisors and became an inspiration to the people who knew her struggle.
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