Bulletin Notes
Law enforcement officers are challenged daily in the performance of their duties; they face each encounter 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.
One evening, Officers Jeshua Smith and Steven Burroughs of the Pleasant Hill, Iowa, Police Department assisted the Polk County Sheriff’s Office with a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a pond.
First on scene, Officers Smith and Burroughs found the SUV mostly submerged in the water, which was down a steep embankment and several hundred yards off the roadway. Officer Smith noticed a female trapped in the rear of the vehicle, so he asked Officer Burroughs to retrieve breaching tools. Officer Burroughs ran up the embankment to the squad cars, then back to the pond without hesitating or stopping to rest.
When Officer Burroughs returned with the tools, Officer Smith was in the frigid water, attempting to communicate with the victim. The officer broke the rear window and helped her out of the SUV. Then, he carried the woman to the edge of the pond, where Officer Burroughs, Polk County deputies, and bystanders assisted in pulling her out. She was airlifted to a hospital, and both officers were treated for hypothermia.
Officer Jeshua Smith
Officer Steven Burroughs
Nominations for the Bulletin Notes should be based on either the rescue of one or more citizens or an arrest(s) made at unusual risk to an officer’s safety. Submissions should include a short write-up, a separate photograph of each nominee, and a letter from the department’s ranking officer endorsing the nomination. Submissions can be emailed to leb@fbi.gov.