WWW.NJCOPSMAGAZINE.COM ■ DECEMBER 2014
55
2014 Valor Awards – Meritorious Service
Reacting quickly to put the
hammer down
Police Officer Kendrick Hamlett
East Orange Local 16
Elaine Settle, Delegate
Police Officer Hubert Henderson
Newark Local 3
Making quick work of a
high-speed chase
Officer Kendrick Hamlett of East Orange Local 16 and Officer
Hubert Henderson of Newark Local 3 were working as part of a border patrol joint task force between their two towns on Aug. 21, 2013,
when they heard shots fired. The officers responded and observed a
male lying on the road with a gunshot wound.
“We saw a couple guys with a cloud of smoke around them jump
back in a car and take off from the location where a guy was laid down
on the ground who was shot,” recalled Hamlett. “I was giving out
directions to other officers to take care of the victim to see if they could
help him out, but at that point it was a clear chase because they shot
the victim and fled the scene.”
Eventually the suspects entered the Garden State Parkway going
south, putting the chase into high gear. All the while, the officers were
coordinating with the State Police to join the pursuit.
“I just wanted to get them off the streets,” Hamlett implored. “It was
the time people were getting off work and there was a lot of traffic.”
When the suspects exited at Irvington, the State Police got behind
them. Eventually the car crashed and they were able to get the suspects and weapons from the wreck. Hamlett and Henderson returned
to the scene of the shooting to give assistance, but the victim had died.
“I just did what I was supposed to do. It runs in my family,” relayed
Hamlett, the 12-year veteran whose aunt works for the EOPD, father
retired as a sergeant there, and has a cousin in the State Police. “This
is the job I signed up for.”
Sweeping up
trouble in
Hudson
County prison
On July 19, Officer
Officer Daniel Gomez
Daniel Gomez was on
Hudson County Corrections
duty in the Hudson
Local 109
County Jail when a distress call from a fellow
officer was broadcast. Officer Gomez immediately responded and,
upon arrival, he noticed a fellow officer was pinned in the corner
behind two combatants, one of which was swinging a push broom.
Without regard for himself, Officer Gomez pulled his partner to
safety as she sustained an injury to her leg. He then shielded her
with his body as they retreated from the unit to wait for relief and
back-up.
What is the
most obscure, yet
potentially deadly weapon you
have ever seen a
suspect
wield
coming at you?
Paterson Local
1 Officer Marj
Officer Marj Kush
Kush had to react
to a man swingPaterson Local 1
ing a hammer.
On Sept. 1, 2012, Kush and several other officers were dispatched
to an emotionally-disturbed person suffering from hallucinations
who had been locked in his bedroom for some time and had refused
to take his medication. Upon entering the residence, they could hear
loud noises, like glass breaking, coming from the bedroom. Numerous attempts to contact the man were made with no response.
Believing the man was in need of medical attention, officers evacuated the home when the decision was made to enter the room.
Upon entry, Kush saw the man swinging a hammer in his direction.
Commands to drop the hammer were ignored. The man charged
Kush swinging the hammer violently side to side. He raised the hammer above his head and was within striking distance when Kush fired
two rounds causing the man to drop to the ground.