Wednesday, April 1, 1998 | 9:55 a.m.
The Metro Police vice section, five patrol officers and one civilian employee received awards from Sheriff Jerry Keller during a ceremony Monday.
Officers Jeffrey Hodgkinson, David Schvaneveldt and David Winslow were awarded medals of honor for risking their lives by entering a burning building and rescuing an elderly woman.
Hodgkinson was the first to arrive Dec. 9 at 511 S. First St. and found the disoriented woman wandering inside the smoke-filled building rapidly being consumed by flames.
The officer got the woman outside safely. When she attempted to go back into the building, Schvaneveldt and Winslow, fearing more victims might be trapped, rushed in and searched amid a small explosion and flames. No other victims were found.
The department's Unit Exemplary Service award went to the team known as Vice Squad 1, recognizing its success with a rehabilitation program created for juvenile prostitutes that has gained national media attention and served as a prototype for other law-enforcement agencies.
Stop Turning Out Prostitutes, or the STOP program as it's casually termed, went into effect in January 1996. Numerous young women caught selling their bodies on local streets have benefited from STOP. The program helped them get into Children of the Night, a 24-bed shelter in Los Angeles that provides refuge, food and counseling to reclaim their lives.
Recognized for STOP's success were Lt. Carlos Cordeiro, Sgt. Christopher Carroll and officers Gawain Guedry, Michael Maines, Raymond Steiber and Victor Vigna.
Officer Joseph Maviglia was presented with the Meritorious Service award for his efforts during a domestic dispute. Officer Herbert Scholer was also awarded the Meritorious Service award for stopping a fleeing suspect.
Civilian employee Patricia Peters was awarded for exemplary service in creating the new Multi-System NCIC Pocket Guide and supplemental handbooks currently used by Metro employees and soon to be used by the FBI.
Peters, a National Crime Information Center certification specialist, is responsible for ensuring employees are trained and re-certified in using the NCIC database for wanted suspects.
archive
