ALBANY -- State Police on Thursday honored 22 officers and workers for their dedication and service.
The 40th annual ceremony included honoring Trooper Donald Fredenburg Jr., who suffered a fatal heart attack last year during a training run at the New York State Police Academy in Albany.
Another officer, Senior Investigator Thomas G. Moran, Jr. was also added to the Trooper Wall of Honor. Moran was stationed in New York City and died in 2012 from cancer stemming from his rescue efforts during 9/11.
"We recognize State Police employees -- troopers, investigators and civilians, sworn and non-sworn -- who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to this agency and the people of New York," said State Police commissioner Joseph D'Amico in a statement. "Our honorees have shown tremendous bravery, dedication or leadership out on the road, or at one of our installations across the state."
The Brummer Award, the agency's highest award for heroism, went to troopers Donald Atkinson and Lawrence Gurdo.
Last July, the pair rescued a 14-year-old girl from the rushing waters of a dam in Whitney Point's Dorchester Lake in the Southern Tier.
Atkinson has also received the International Chiefs of Police 2015 Trooper of the Year award.
The officers who helped capture two escaped murderers from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora were also honored.
Other troopers who received awards included Trooper Christopher Braun stationed at Troop E in Lyons, Wayne County. Last September, he rescued a driver from a car fire.
Trooper Craig Rose at Troop K in Poughkeepsie last July saved a family from car fire on the Taconic State Parkway. He then delivered care packages to the family as they recovered from their injuries days later.
"Without regard for his own safety, he entered the burning car and moved the children to a safe location," State Police said in a news release.
Three officers were honored after they investigated reports that a homicide suspect from Long Island may be in the Pawling area in Dutchess County. The suspect's phone was located by hikers on a portion of the Appalachian Trail.
Trooper Steven Hobson and his Bloodhound partner, Darby, were called upon, and troopers Talia Duke and Thomas Famighetti assisted, State Police said.
They found the suspect, who had a box cutter, and they spent two hours negotiating with him until he surrendered, State Police said.
An award for community involvement went to Sgt. Daniel McMorris of Troop K in Wappinger, Dutchess County. He is the volunteer chief of the Union Vale Fire District, teaches fire prevention to schoolchildren in Arlington and runs a community support fund, State Police said.
