It was a fitting day for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department to recognize the outstanding achievements of the officers, and a few citizens, who went above and beyond the call of duty in 2012.

Earlier in the day, Jeffco Sheriff Ted Mink and many of his staff had attended the funeral of Lakewood Police Officer James Davies, who died in the line of duty.

“Certainly after an event like that, it’s good to come together, to heal. And we wanted to rise above that tragedy and recognize our citizens and employees who have really done incredible work,” said Mink after the presentation ceremony.

The awards event filled the county hearing room with award recipients, colleagues, and family.

Among this year’s honorees were two citizens, and two department deputies who risked their own lives to pull an accident victim out of a flaming vehicle; several deputies who acted quickly to save the lives of suicidal citizens; and one deputy who handled two award-worthy situations in one day.

Deputy DA Christian Gardner-Wood was given the Citizen Citation of Merit, and officers Dale Scott and Erik Nethken were given commendations for stopping a county inmate from attacking his public defender with a pen — “in what would otherwise have likely been a serious injury incident,” according to the award citation.

Four officers, David Bruening, Randy Barnes, Jason Hertel and Jerry Chrachol were given the department’s Medal for Valor for their evacuation efforts during the Lower North Fork Fire.

The four actually became trapped by the flames and smoke at one point, and waited in a partially burned field until the fire line had passed them by.

Then, they continued work on assisting evacuees.

Deputy Elias Alberti was on patrol duty along Interstate 70 one day when reports of a Pontiac, traveling over 100 mph with no breaks and a stuck accelerator, came over the radio.

The deputy actually moved his car in front of the runaway vehicle, and used his breaks to eventually stop the car.

Later that same day Alberti successfully talked a suicidal individual away from the ledge of a bridge.

Other officers and citizens were recognized for excellent work, both heroic, and just helpful, like the bank employee who worked after hours with police to find a missing woman, or the Gavin Prejean, a state-recognized police and fire dispatch trainer.

Ending the event were awards for 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service with the department, followed by a few promotions.