Officers are nominated by other officers for the National Top Cop award. NAPO selects winners from 10 states each year. They also flew the honorable mention winners from all 50 states. We got to meet officers from all over and hear their heroic tales. I also enjoyed seeing the different types of uniforms.

We arrived in D.C. on Wednesday afternoon in a group of LAPD officers and families totaling about 45. A video crew began filming the instant we walked into the Omni Shoreham Hotel and followed us around until the celebration was over Thursday night.

The Hotel is big, beautiful, and is the choice of dignitaries. Here's a picture of the lobby which doesn't begin to do it justice.

On Wednesday night, John and I had a chance to go to dinner with one of our high school English/Literature teachers, Don Farrer, and his wife, Bette. We hadn't seen each other since graduation 24 years ago. It was as if time had stood still because it seemed they hadn't aged at all.

Mr. & Mrs. Farrer treated us to Southern style food at a beautiful restaurant called B. Smith's, located in Historic Union Station in the former Presidential Suite. As a historic landmark, the decor of the restaurant has been restored to its original beauty. We had Southern cooking and enjoyed live jazz.

We also had plenty of chances to ride the subway during this trip. Unlike the subways of New York, we found them to be clean and free of graffiti. The picture at the left shows a huge escalator that descends into the subway tunnel. Those little specs are people, so you can imagine how long this escalator is!

When we got up Thursday it was raining. We ate breakfast amidst the glare of video cameras and boarded a charter bus headed for the Police Memorial.

The inscription reads, "It is not how these officers died that made them heroes. It is how they lived. Of all of the memorials in D.C., (i.e., the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, etc., ) only 8 are actually authorized by the U.S. Government. The Police Memorial is one of them. It is dedicated to all law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Inscribed on the Memorial's blue-gray marble walls are the names of more than 14,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty, dating back to the first known death in 1794. As with the Vietnam memorial wall, it gives people a chance to weep openly for those who have unselfishly given their lives for cause.

A commemorative coin to honor police officers who have died in the line of duty was unveiled 9/16/97 by top Treasury Department officials at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. If you want to own the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Silver Dollar, you better place your order now, because sales will end on December 15, 1998, Memorial officials warned. Since last December, an estimated 150,000 of the commemorative silver dollars have been sold by the United States Mint. However, the authorizing law enacted by Congress in 1996 permits as many as 500,000 of the coins to be issued, and any of the silver dollars that remain unsold after December 15, 1998, will be destroyed.

Thursday night was a night I will always remember. It started with a private reception for the Top Cops and their spouses so we could all get to know each other. The comraderie between cops is amazing. They show such respect to each other - no matter what state or department they are with. They all wanted to hear each others stories and were congratulating each other as if they had all just come back from the war.

My favorite group (other than LAPD, of course) were the New York City cops who foiled the bomb attempt on the subway last year. A rowdy group indeed.

We then moved to a large ballroom that had a staircase decending to the main floor which was decorated in Early American with beautiful chandeliers. There were hundreds of people, many of whom were Senators and politicians that I didn't recognize and also a few celebrities. There was an enormous selection of hors d'oeuvres. The chatter was loud and people were having a wonderful time.

Dinner was served in still another ballroom. We had lobster bisque and filet mignon. After dinner all honorable mention nominees from the 50 states were brought on stage, one by one. Then the runners-up were honored.

Groups that received awards such as NYPD, LAPD and the drug enforcement unit each nominated one guy to accept the award while they all gathered behind him. NAPO then presented the video prepared detailing the NY City subway incident and at the end brought the NYPD winners on stage. The crowd gave them a standing ovation as they proudly accepted their award. Each Top Cop award recipient had to give an acceptance speech.

Each award had the incident that lead to the award recreated on video (except LAPD's which was already caught on tape.) The audience cheered each one and we clapped until our hands felt bruised. The incidents were all so incredible that I think most of us didn't want the awards to end. We were all so proud.

The Citizen's Choice Award went to a Kissimmee, Florida copper who was shot 4 times, including once in the head, but who still kept his composure long enough to shoot the suspect as he was holding a gun to the head of a taxi driver. That cop will never return to work as he has lost his eye and has other injuries related to that incident. Almost every story that brought tears to our eyes.

Friday morning we went by charter to the White House. The Top Cops went into a different entrance and were escorted into the oval office to meet with President Clinton. The families were escorted into the First Lady's garden and then to the Rose Garden just outside the oval office.

The Marine Corp band played for about an hour as we sat and waited for the President to come out. It was sprinkling slightly - just enough to ruin everyone's hairdos!

We could see our officers in the window of the oval office with the President and we were taking pictures of them from the outside where we sat.

This was taken in the Oval Office in Washington on October 9, 1998. We received it several months later after it was autographed.

The Press began to arrive, about 100 of them with newscams and still cameras. Soon an official looking woman brought the officers out and arranged them on the stairs so they would surround the President. By the way, all of the officers had to surrender their guns except for LAPD. LAPD is the only department allowed to keep their guns with them in the White House. I found that odd.

There was an announcement and Janet Reno and the President and the president of NAPO descended the stairs. The crowd was visually moved by his appearance. Janet Reno spoke first and gave a moving speech before introducing the president of NAPO. He told the crowd that President Clinton is the first president since Johnson to really support the police, giving the money necessary to purchase better weapons and bring more officers to our streets. President Clinton then praised the Top Cops as well as all cops in our nation and pledged to continue his support. He said the Brady bill is in danger of being torn apart and asked for our support.

After the speeches, the President approached the crowd to greet us. Soon, he looked behind him at the officers and said, "hey, you're excused - go get your families and bring them over here for pictures." We stormed the place. To me, he was a tad smaller than I expected and his hair was smooth. It always looks on tv like he has frizzy hair. His skin is rather light and thin - he just seemed a little frail perhaps. Maybe just stressed out.

I handed the photographers both my digital and still cameras. The above picture was taken with the digital. There were so many flashes going off that there is a purple and blue reflection on the picture. Notice John's gun, which was loaded, right up against the President. Was that a lack of security? The President was ever the politician, shaking my hand and looking me firmly in the eye with a smile and hesitating before speaking. He asked how I was and then said he was glad I could attend the ceremony today. I enjoyed that small moment with an American President. I will never forget it.

President Clinton is asking me about my digital camera here. He made a comment to one of his people that I had technology they hadn't even heard of yet. This picture was taken with a 35mm camera and then scanned

As we walked away from the White House, there was Socks, the cat sitting on the lawn as if posing for pictures.

NAPO then took us to lunch at Philip's at the Marina on the Potomac River. We ate lunch and then said our goodbyes. It was so nice to meet so many other cops and their families who, although they live in other states, were involved in hair-raising incidents like the BofA Shootout. We were able to bond and support each other just by spending some time together.

We want to say a heartfelt thank you to NAPO and especially to Evelyn Kent who coordinated this event and put up with all our phone calls!

Thanks, Evelyn!!!