Everett Police Detective Dan Wall was awarded the Medal of Valor this week for an act that does not need much polishing. He risked his own life to pull a driver to safety from a hijacked garbage truck during last summer’s armed rampage.
That is what the award is for. Not attendance. Not years served. Not a nice speech in a room. A real act of courage under real danger.
The Everett Independent reported that Wall was honored Tuesday and photographed with Mayor Robert J. Van Campen and Police Chief Paul Strong after receiving the medal. The citation came from Wall’s role in one of the uglier public safety incidents the city saw last year, when an armed suspect created chaos and used a garbage truck in the middle of the rampage.
According to the account, Wall pulled the driver from that truck and got him to safety while the situation was still active. That is the kind of split-second decision that can go very badly for the officer, the victim, or both. In this case, it saved a life.
There is not much point in overcomplicating it. Everett hands out plenty of proclamations, certificates, and ceremonial thank-yous. Some are deserved. Some are just part of the municipal paper-shuffling industry. A Medal of Valor is supposed to mean something more serious. In this case, it appears to.
It also matters that the city publicly recognized the specific act, not just the general idea of bravery. Too often, public language gets softened into mush. Here, the facts are plain enough: an armed rampage, a hijacked garbage truck, and a detective who stepped into danger to get a civilian out.
That deserves to be stated clearly because working people in Everett are usually the ones caught in the middle when public order breaks down. The driver in that truck was not a talking point. He was a person in immediate danger. Wall acted accordingly.
Mayor Van Campen and Chief Strong were present for the recognition, as they should have been. Whatever else city government gets wrong, and it gets plenty wrong, honoring a cop for a documented act of valor is not a hard call.
No fake controversy required. No activist performance art. No need to pretend courage is subjective.
A detective saw a man in danger during a violent incident and pulled him to safety. Everett gave him the Medal of Valor. For once, the citation and the conduct seem to match.