"Philadelphia Police Chief of Staff Kimberly Byrd has won the coveted George Fencl Award – named for the exemplary head of Civil Affairs during the stormy '60s, and given to an officer who exemplifies his qualities of ‘compassion, dedication, loyalty and fairness'." Besides her 14-years on the Force, she is being honored today for "her years of service to grassroots community groups like Mothers In Charge and Town Watch, and her years of personally mentoring young African-American women." (more)

Another police officer in the running for this year's award was Detective Rose DiLacqua, "a one-woman force protecting the elderly in the department's CARE Unit, or Crime Against the Retired and Elderly". "The most important quality of a police officer is fairness," said the sweet-voiced DiLacqua. "Treat people like how you would want to be treated."

"‘Good cop' was an understatement when it came to the young DiLacqua. She spent five years as an undercover narc, infiltrating drug organizations by posing as a curious hustler with a knack for speaking Spanish. In the late '80s, her investigating skills helped federal agents shutter a large South Philadelphia drug ring that made and sold methamphetamine."

(Read both these women's stories at Philly.com here and here)

(Note, some source material has been removed by the source.)