Burbank police officers, citizens honored at second annual awards luncheon
Police Star Award recipients, from left to right, Officer Cameron Brown, Officer Cody Renfrew and Detective Todd Burke at the second annual Burbank police awards luncheon at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank on Thursday, March 10, 2016. Awards were bestowed upon top members of the police department and several citizens.
When Cameron Brown responded to a Burbank house fire last January, he heard a faint voice coming from inside.
The police officer plowed through a thick layer of smoke toward the kitchen, where he found an elderly woman leaning up against a wall, and guided her to safety.
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After he was told that six more people were inside, he and another sergeant went back in twice searching for more victims. As it turned out, the woman had been alone in the home.
To Brown, the decision to enter a burning building was no different than the decision to enter an active shooter scene.
“You’re going in for one reason and one reason only — to save people,” he said.
Burbank police officer Cameron Brown is awarded the Police Star for bravery and heroism in the line of duty by Burbank Police Chief Scott LaChasse at the second annual Burbank police awards luncheon at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank on Thursday, March 10, 2016.
Brown, along with two others, earned a Police Star for bravery and heroism on Thursday at the second annual Burbank police awards luncheon hosted by the Burbank Police Foundation.
Officer Cody Roberts and Det. Todd Burke also earned Police Stars for crawling into a burning home last July and rescuing three people.
Sgt. Celia Hawver earned a Professional Esteem Award for her composure and professionalism while investigating the abuse of a 5-week-old girl who died in 2012 after being violently shaken multiple times.
The girl’s father was charged with murder after confessing to shaking the girl. The case remains pending.
A team of officers led by Burbank Police Lt. JJ Puglisi also received a Professional Esteem Award for securing grant funds to revive the agency’s high-tech crimes unit in 2014. The unit gives investigators tools to search data on cellphones, iPads, computers and GPS navigation systems.
The agency also recognized 10 people with Citizen Awards, including Dexter Johnson and Michael Vanleeuwen, who saw detectives struggling to open a safe linked to a home invasion robbery and provided welding tools and a blowtorch to help.
Three officers — Joshua Kendrick, Cindy Guillen and Adam Baumgarten — were recognized as Officers of the Year, while crime analyst Michele Larson was honored as Civilian of the Year and John Kemmerer was recognized as Volunteer of the Year.
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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Twitter: @atchek
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