Joint Legislative Committee Presents Legislative Medal of Honor for Law Enforcement Officers

Today at 11:00, a joint session was held in the House chamber to honor law enforcement officers. Governor Bob Riley, Attorney General Troy King, Lt. Governor Jim Folsom, along with members of both the House and Senate were all in attendance to participate in the ceremony.

Each year, one recipient is chosen to receive the Legislative Metal of Honor for Law Enforcement. This year’s award went to Officer Larry Sharpley of the Decatur Police Department.

He was chosen for his heroism in saving a woman’s life whose car had gone off the road and into a lake. The incident occurred at night, and Officer Sharpley dove into the water to remove passengers from the car. Upon bringing up one woman, he then dove back into the water to search for additional passengers. Seeing no others inside the vehicle, he administered CPR to the woman – saving her life.

During Governor Riley’s remarks, he said that while talking to Officer Sharpley before the ceremony he said, “We don’t do this for the thank you’s or the recognition, we do it because it is our job.”