Bulletin Notes

Law enforcement officers are challenged daily in the performance of their duties; they face each challenge freely and unselfishly while answering the call to duty. In certain instances, their actions warrant special attention from their respective departments. The Bulletin also wants to recognize those situations that transcend the normal rigors of the law enforcement profession.

Corporal John Franklin of the Huntington, West Virginia, Police Department spotted a fire on the back porch of a local residence just after 2 a.m. and contacted Cabell County 911 for fire assistance. He then approached the front door of the home, pounding on it and shouting to awaken the family sleeping inside. Patrolman Stephen Maniskas joined Franklin moments later, and both officers forced their way into the residence. One of the homeowners heard the two officers shouting downstairs and awoke her husband, daughter, and son-in-law. The family then exited the home as firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze. The upstairs smoke detector failed to alert the residents of the fire.

Corporal John Franklin and Patrolman Stephen Maniskas of the Huntington, West Virginia Police Department rescued four people from a house fire. Franklin was a Bulletin Notes recipient in January 2012.

  Corporal Franklin

Corporal John Franklin and Patrolman Stephen Maniskas of the Huntington, West Virginia Police Department rescued four people from a house fire. Maniskas was a Bulletin Notes recipient in January 2012.

  Patrolman Maniskas


Sergeant Richard Burdick and Officer David Henley of the Nevada, Missouri Police Department pulled a frightened 8-year-old girl from an apartment fire and evacuated several other residents. Burdick was a Bulletin Notes recipient in January 2012.

  Sergeant Burdick

Sergeant Richard Burdick and Officer David Henley of the Nevada, Missouri Police Department pulled a frightened 8-year-old girl from an apartment fire and evacuated several other residents. Henley was a Bulletin Notes recipient in January 2012.

  Officer Henley

Sergeant Richard Burdick and Officer David Henley of the Nevada, Missouri, Police Department responded to a radio call regarding a fire at a local apartment building. Upon their arrival, both officers evacuated the building’s residents to safety. However, they soon became aware of a child who was trapped in a lower level apartment. The officers entered the building a second time and forced open the front door of the apartment, but were unable to go inside due to the extreme heat and smoke caused by the fire. With the assistance of a neighbor, they located and broke out the apartment’s back bedroom window, finding the terrified child hiding within. Unable to coax the 8-year-old girl to them, Officer Henley climbed into the smoke filled bedroom, pulled the child out of danger, and handed her to Sergeant Burdick and members of the Nevada Fire Department. Both officers and the child were treated at the scene and released.


Nominations for the Bulletin Notes should be based on either the rescue of one or more citizens or arrest(s) made at unusual risk to an officer’s safety. Submissions should include a short write-up (maximum of 250 words), a separate photograph of each nominee, and a letter from the department’s ranking officer endorsing the nomination. Submissions can be mailed to the Editor, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA 22135 or e-mailed to leb@fbiacademy.edu