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LAPD Officers Honored by the Auto Club for Safe Driving Records

29 September 2000

LAPD Officers Honored by the Auto Club for Safe Driving Records

    LOS ANGELES--Sept. 28, 2000--More than 380 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department received awards Thursday from the Automobile Club of Southern California for at least 25 years of safe driving on the job.
    The awards were announced and distributed at a luncheon hosted Thursday by Auto Club President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas McKernan and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Bernard Parks.
    The "dean" of safe driving in the Los Angeles Police Department is Detective Jack Giroud of the Robbery-Homicide Division, who received special recognition for driving a record 43 years on the job without a preventable accident.
    "Police officers like Det. Giroud are true examples to their colleagues and the community," McKernan said. "All together, the officers of the Los Angeles Police Department log 45.5 million miles of driving per year. That's a lot of time behind the wheel while performing one of the most important, demanding, difficult, and hazardous jobs around."
    Today's group of honored officers are among a much larger group of 4,581 LAPD officers who have earned awards from the Auto Club for at least five years of safe driving on the job.
    Throughout its 100 years of existence, the Auto Club has worked with police agencies to encourage enforcement of traffic laws and prosecution of vehicle-related crimes. In 1990, the Auto Club established its Peace Officers Safe Driving Award to recognize peace officers for their efforts in promoting traffic safety.
    Officers become eligible for the award after achieving a minimum of five consecutive years of driving without a preventable collision.
    The Auto Club also honors police officers with its 10851 Vehicle Theft Recovery Award, named for the state vehicle code section covering auto theft. To qualify for this award, an officer must meet any of the following criteria within a 12-month period:

--	Make six separate-incident "rolling stolen" (suspect occupying the stolen vehicle) in-custody arrests;
--	Recover a total of 12 stolen vehicles, at least three of which are "rolling stolen," or
--	Develop information which results in identification of a vehicle theft ring, subsequent arrest of two or more suspects, and the recovery of at least 10 vehicles.