Ceremony to Honor Nation's 'Top Cops'
Aug. 5 -- One of them risked his life by secretly infiltrating what police call a violent biker gang.
Another took eight bullets while foiling a robbery at a sports bar, even though he was officially off duty.
A third quarterbacked an investigation that broke up a multistate child prostitution ring.
Not too shabby.
But only one case can produce the nation’s “top cop.”
The honor will go to one of 10 officers or teams tonight at what organizers call a “Hollywood-style” ceremony in Washington.
“I have no expectation of winning it,” says Special Agent Blake L. Boteler of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. His two-year infiltration of the Sons of Silence biker club in Colorado resulted in numerous drug and weapons arrests and ongoing threats against his life, he adds.
“If I do [win], I’d be honored,” Boteler says. “If I don’t, I’m just glad to be considered with these guys.”
What ‘Top Cops’ Are Made Of
“These guys” include Alaska State Trooper Scott D. Quist, who found and rescued two missing men by airplane as high winds blew sheets of snow in frozen wilderness.
They include Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Vigil of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Puerto Rican Division. He led an international operation that netted nearly 1,300 arrests, tons of marijuana and other drugs, and stockpiles of weapons. The seizures occurred in Jamaica, Curacao, Haiti and other countries.
Maryland Heights, Mo., police Detective Joe Delia broke up the child prostitution ring, bringing the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Minneapolis police into an operation that yielded 18 convictions in four states.
And Las Vegas police Officer Dennis Devitte took two bullets in the left thigh and one each in the right side of the stomach, the left side of the groin, the right knee, the right hand, the right thumb and the buttocks while breaking up an early morning armed robbery at “Mr. D’s” sports bar. He shot two of the three masked suspects, one fatally.
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