Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor

The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor is the highest decoration for bravery performed by public safety officers in the United States, comparable to the military's Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Valor was established on May 30, 2001. It is awarded by the President of the United States to public safety officers (police officers, firefighters, et cetera) cited by the Attorney General and recommended by the eleven-member Medal of Valor Review Board. The medal can be awarded posthumously.

Before the establishment of the Medal of Valor, there were no Federal awards to specifically acknowledge the bravery performed by public safety officers throughout the United States; police and firefighting departments typically award their members medals at a state or local government level. The establishment of the Medal of Valor fills a huge void in the civilian decorations system of the United States, which was all the more timely given the catastrophe in New York three-and-a-half months later on September 11, 2001.

The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, which intentionally resembles the military's Medal of Honor, is a gilt, blue-enamelled, five-pointed, upside-down star (i.e. one arm points downwards), with each arm formed by a letter "V" (for Valor), surrounded by a wreath of laurel. The central disc bears the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States. The reverse bears the legend "FOR EXTRAORDINARY VALOR ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY", with the name of the recipient engraved at the centre. The medal is suspended on a silver gilt disc bearing a letter "V" surrounded by a wreath of laurels, which is in turn suspended on a neck ribbon, blue with white and red edge stripes (the national colours of the USA) and a gold centre stripe (symbolizing honor).

When the ribbon alone is worn, it carries a miniature silver gilt disc bearing a letter "V" surrounded by a wreath of laurels. There is also a lapel pin, which is the miniature of the medal without suspension.

For actions above and beyond the call of duty; and exhibiting exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and presence of mind; or an unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her personal safety, in an attempt to save or protect human life.

I am posting this because I have noticed on a number of threads in recent days, questions about what awards might be available to be received by Sgt Munley over her actions at Fort Hood (and also, for that matter, by any other law enforcement officer who was involved with similar heroism.) It became apparent to me that a lot of people seem to be unaware of this decoration probably because it is such a new one. Such things interest me, so I pay attention to them.

I have heard of this award, but had never seen a picture of the decoration itself. If the responding police officers had been Military Police, they would have only been eligible for an award of the Soldier’s Medal, the only valor award for actions not involving combat with enemy forces (the Air Force, and Navy/Marine Corps have their own equivilent).

It is a one size fits all type award, good for rescuing swimmers, pulling people from burning wrecks and all other acts of heroism. The British, Canadians, and Australians have several decorations that can be presented for non-combat heroism for both soldiers and civilians. For example, the British have the George Cross, the George Medal, and the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. The George Cross ranks next to the Victoria Cross and is only very rarely presented.

While the Soldier’s Medal is a relatively rare and respected decoration, it sometimes does not seem to fit the degree of courage exhibited. A non combat valor award on the level of the Distinguished Service Cross or Navy Cross might be warranted.

This Public Safety award might have a similar problem: it will either almost never be awarded, or presented for acts of courage that don’t rise to the level of a Medal of Honor type distinction.

The British, Canadians, and Australians have several decorations that can be presented for non-combat heroism for both soldiers and civilians. For example, the British have the George Cross, the George Medal, and the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. The George Cross ranks next to the Victoria Cross and is only very rarely presented.

Yes, Australia has the Cross of Valour (CV) as a civilian counterpart to the Victoria Cross (VC). It replaced the George Cross in our own Honours system - the Victoria Cross, because of its special history was retained as the Victoria Cross for Australia.

The CV has been awarded five times since it came into existence in 1975. Two awards have been to police officers. Two awards were made following the Bali bombing of 2002 - to Senior Constable Timothy Britten CV of the Western Australian Police Force who was on holiday in Bali, and to Mr Richard Joyes CV, a geologist, also on holiday. Both repeatedly exposed themselves to the highest levels of danger to rescue people from the bombed nightclub.

In addition four 'Stars of Courage' (SC), fourteen 'Bravery Medals' (BM), and seventeen 'Commendations for Brave Conduct' were awarded in the aftermath of that attack.

In addition to these, 139 awards at various levels of the Order of Australia were made to those who gave sterling service in other ways not involving courage of the type bravery awards are given for.

One of these went to an American doctor, Dr Arthur Ichimura Sorrell AM of Venice, California, who became an (Honourary) Member of the Order of Australia for his selfless efforts in providing medical support to the injured.

I think the United States would benefit from considering the need for a way to formally recognise such courage and service by civilians at a national level - Australia was able to honour an American for his service in the worst ever terrorist attack we experienced, in a way America can't do in a similar situation.

The military do great things and show great courage. So sometimes, do civilians.

This Public Safety award might have a similar problem: it will either almost never be awarded, or presented for acts of courage that don’t rise to the level of a Medal of Honor type distinction.

I'd say it's the latter - it has been awarded over 40 times since 2001 and from what I see every recipient was worthy and showed great courage - but certainly not all cases were at Medal of Honour level.

Yes, I've been looking at the list of previous recipients. This one struck me.

Michael Muniz, Police Officer, San Antonio, Texas. Officer Michael Muniz responded to an emergency call regarding gun shots fired at a restaurant. Before receiving the call, three of his fellow officers had been seriously wounded by an armed suspect. When he arrived at the scene, the suspect, who was advancing toward the wounded officers immediately turned his weapon on Muniz. Muniz was struck several times by the gun fire. Though wounded, Muniz drew his service weapon and returned fire, hitting the suspect. Both Muniz and the suspect continued to fire, while advancing toward each other, with multiple shots fired at point blank range. Muniz sustained four gun shot wounds before incapacitating his assailant.

Broadly speaking, it seems fairly similar to me. And Officer Muniz did receive the Medal of Valor.

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