Motorola Solutions, NOBLE recognize St. Paul, Minn. Police Department’s Deborah Montgomery as law enforcement trailblazer

Each year, Motorola Solutions and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) honor a member of the law enforcement community with the Walter Lawson Community Service Award. This award honors the life of Walter Lawson, a NOBLE member who passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident on his way home from a NOBLE conference. Lawson retired from the Seattle Police Department after 21 years as Head of Traffic Enforcement. After a short stint with the U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, he went on to serve as the Director of Administrative Services with the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

This year’s recipient of the Walter Lawson Community Service Award is Senior Commander Deborah Montgomery (retired), who has been a trailblazer for women in law enforcement. Montgomery was involved in the civil rights movement and participated in the 1963 “March on Washington,” walking 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 to obtain voting equality.

Professionally, Senior Commander Montgomery was the first female officer in the St. Paul, Minn. Police Department, leading uniform and assignment policy reform as well as agility testing requirements for women in 1975. She has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2013 Heritage Award for significant contributions to women police by the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) and the annual Learning for Life William H. Spurgeon Award for her work mentoring young women, among numerous others.

For more information on NOBLE, please click here.

For more information on Deborah Montgomery, please read this blog.

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