Valor Awards
Bronze Medal of Valor
Corporal Keith Hermann Franklin Township Local 154
Working overtime
It ’ s not very often that police officers have to bring their work home . But for Franklin Township Local 154 Corporal Keith Hermann , this was the case and the site of his heroics .
On the night of March 19 , Hermann was awoken by a strange noise coming from the first floor of his house . He immediately woke his wife Nadine , and told her to call 9-1-1 . He crept slowly down the stairs and told the potential intruder that he was an off-duty officer who was armed and he was coming down the stairs . The situation went south quickly , and he was forced to fire his weapon to protect himself , Nadine and their two-year-old son when the intruder advanced on Hermann . Within minutes , on-duty officers arrived on the scene , took the suspect into custody and provided the suspect and Hermann with medical care .
The suspect was responsible for committing several car burglaries within the area , but for this incident he pleaded guilty to burglary in the third degree .
Hermann has served on the force for 23 years and has served in the traffic safety unit for 18 of those years .
Hermann gives credit to his training and range officers for preparing him to handle a situation of this severity . “ They taught me that if you have a bad feeling about something , to go with it ; never second guess yourself ,” he said .
Asked to describe how he felt about being honored , he characterized it in one word : Disbelief .
Hermann ’ s humble demeanor came to light when he expressed his anxiety at the thought of having to give a speech after accepting the award . For him , he was just doing what he thought any other officer would have done .
In fact , he requested that the on-duty officers who responded to the scene be honored instead of him . “ I asked for the officers who responded to the scene to be honored and felt that they deserved to be honored and they jumped in when I didn ’ t know if I had any more left in the tank ,” he said .
However , the real hero in this scenario for Hermann is his wife Nadine . Hermann claimed that she was key to the situation because she communicated with 9-1-1 and the on-duty officers the most , “ She ’ s modest but the information was given by her not me ,” said Hermann .
“ I ’ m proud of him , and he did what he had to do ,” Nadine explained . “ The biggest thing was he walked back up the stairs that night , so I don ’ t care ,” she said , looking at Hermann with tears in her eyes .
It ’ s not every day that an officer has to bring his work home with him . But on that night , Corporal Keith Hermann followed his instincts to protect his family in a dangerous situation , and luckily , following those instincts paid off . “ My job came home with me that night ,” he said , “ and that ’ s not something that I thought I would ever have to do .” d
56 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2017