Philadelphia, October 24--Lt. Scott Seekins of the Lockport, NY, Police Department placed himself in the path of gunfire from an AK47 to protect fellow officers disabled during a gunfight with a suicidal man. For this, Seekins was honored by PARADE magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police as the 2003 Police Officer of the Year during the annual convention of the IACP.

"It is the function of the military to safeguard a nation from outside its borders,"says PARADE Contributing Editor Larry Smith, who presented the Police Service Awards today to Lt. Seekins and ten honorable mention recipients. "It is the function of the police officers to protect its citizens from within. And fortunately we have thousands of able-bodied servants in the field of law enforcement across the nation to assure that protection.

"Our technology, from DNA to the national fingerprint database, is simply amazing, but the thing that makes it all go, as we know, is the individual officer out there doing his or her job, whether it's big city, small town or on the highway."

Late on February 8, 2003, Lt. Seekins, a crime-scene specialist, reported to document a shooting. Twenty-six-year-old Jason Kanalley had fired an AK-47 at a man whose girlfriend Kanalley once dated. Then he fled. Seekins, Capt. Lawrence Eggert, and Patrolman Michael Stover, 36, ended up in a cat-and-mouse chase with the suspect. "We had heard he was very unstable and wanted a shoot-out with the police," Seekins says.

Once cornered, Kanalley opened fire. He emptied his assault weapon through his windshield. Capt. Eggert was shot in the shoulder. Meanwhile, K-9 Officer Steven Ritchie, 41, appeared on the scene in an SUV. Kanalley, still firing through his windshield, smashed into Ritchie's car head-on. A shot hit the officer in the chest; he also broke his jaw and lost several teeth in the collision.

As Ritchie lay in the snow, Seekins fired at Kanalley. "I laid down flat next to the car," he recalls. "Bullets were flying all over the place, over our bodies. There was no cover. I never in my life tried so hard to become blacktop."

After much more gunplay, during which Lt. Seekins protected his fellow officers, Kanalley shot himself in the head. Eggert was taken to a trauma center, and Ritchie was taken to a nearby hospital.

"They said we lost Ritchie four times on the way, but each time they were able to get him started again," Seekins says. "He had a strong will to live."

Says Ritchie, "If it wasn't for Scott, I wouldn't be here. Larry wouldn't be here. The doctor said I should have died. But Scott tried so hard to save my life, I was not going to let him down."

Capt. Eggert agrees. "Without Scott being there, I'd be dead, and so would Steve. I mean, he threw himself down between me and Jason. If there's a hero out there, it's Scott, even if he doesn't like being called one."

The honorable mention recipients also honored today are:

Sgt. Peter Smolyanski of the Miami Beach, Fla., Police Department, is the first-ever two-time recipient of a Police Service Award. Acting undercover, Smolyanski, 52, met with members of a Colombian terrorist group involved in exporting drugs throughout the world. He "negotiated" a deal to trade $25 million in cash and drugs for five crates of Russian-made missiles, grenades, machine guns and ammunition. Smolyanski traveled to four different countries, risking his life on every occasion. The announcement of the arrest of four suspects was made by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft late last year. Smolyanksi was also honored in 1998 for his undercover investigations; specifically those that resulted in three top crime figures being charged with drug violations, money laundering and conspiring to buy a submarine to smuggle drugs.

Officer Darren Bristow, Tulsa, Okla.-Officer Bristow, 33, confronted a suspect armed with a shotgun who opened fire, striking Bristow in his face, arms and shoulders with more than 30 shotgun pellets. Despite his injuries, Bristow covered a wounded witness while returning fire. The suspect shot four other police officers before he was killed;

Investigator Alan Eberle Jr., Nebraska State Patrol-Eberle, 29, along with a DEA agent and a detective, was taking a drug suspect to her house in Saginaw, Mich., when they encountered three burglars. In the ensuing gunfight, Eberle's partners were wounded. He saved their lives while two of the suspects were killed. The getaway man and the other burglar were captured later;

Officer Catheryn Gardner, Houston, Tex.-Hearing a report about an abused infant, Officer Gardner, 43, found that several siblings were repeatedly hospitalized for injuries. Recognizing signs of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse in which a parent seeks unneeded medical attention for a child, she reviewed the autopsy of another sibling. The mother was later arrested;

Officer Jean-Albert Pun, Delray Beach, Fla.-In August 2002, Officer Pun, 35, created the Delray Youth Vocational Charter School for at-risk youths. Diplomas are awarded on the basis of skills rather than credits, allowing students to progress at their own pace. Pun handles many of the everyday tasks while struggling to raise the $500,000 required annually to operate the school;

Officer Wendall Watts, Jackson, Miss.-Officer Watts, 37, took over a chase after a patrol car was derailed following a bank robbery. In a church parking lot, the armed suspect seized a church goer. Watts ordered the man to release the woman and drop his weapon. The suspect released the woman but pointed his weapon at Watts, who shot and killed him;

Trooper Shawn Dean, Endwell, N.Y.-During a traffic stop by State Troopers Shawn Dean, 30, and John Spero, 32, a driver pulled a handgun and came at them firing. Spero got off two shots before being wounded in the hands. Dean fired 14 times, hitting the suspect seven times and killing him. Both the vehicle and firearms found in the trunk were stolen;

Officer Christine Fernandez, St. Louis, Mo.-Officer Fernandez, 31, sought to speak with a man who was walking away from a car accident. He turned out to be a dangerous felon, drawing an automatic weapon and shooting Fernandez in the groin. She returned fire and called in a description of the assailant, whom she shot in both legs and a foot. He was captured shortly afterward;

Officer John Nebl, Schaumburg, Ill.-Officer Nebl, 40, initiated a program four years ago that instructs tenants and owners on how to keep their property drug- and crime-free. Since then, there has been a significant decline in calls for police at Schaumburg's 18 major apartment properties. He also helped get similar programs started in seven other Illinois communities;

Officer Musaffar H. Siddiqi, Houston, Tex.-As his department's liaison to South Asian and Middle Eastern communities, Officer Siddiqi, 40, a Pakistani-American, helps educate in diverse values and cultures, works with foreign dignitaries and assists in criminal investigations. After 9/11, he helped calm fears and generate goodwill for the Houston Police Department.