Every day, federal, state, and local law enforcement officers engage in exceptional acts of bravery while in the line of duty. Often, such acts place the officers involved at personal risk of injury or result in their sustaining a physical injury. To honor these acts of bravery, Congress passed the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-298), creating the Federal Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery and the State and Local Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery. The act establishes an award to honor exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty by federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. The medals are awarded annually by the U.S. Attorney General and are presented by the recipients’ Congressional representatives.
To meet the definition of an act of bravery, nominees for the Congressional Badge of Bravery must have either:
- Sustained a physical injury while –
- Engaged in the lawful duties of the individual, and
- Performing an act characterized as bravery by the agency head who makes the nomination, and
- Being at personal risk; or
- Although not injured, performed an act characterized as bravery by the agency head who makes the nomination that placed the individual at risk of serious physical injury or death.
The nomination period is now open to honor actions performed by these officers during the 2018 calendar year. Nominations can be submitted by agency heads through our online portal.
Separate nominations must be submitted if multiple officers are being recognized for the same incident. An officer can also be nominated for more than one incident. Learn more by reading the nomination guidelines on the Badge of Bravery website.
