2018 NJSPBA Valor Awards
Silver Medal of Valor
Offi cer George Guadalupe
Bloomfi eld Local 32
When Bloomfield Officer George Gua-
dalupe pointed his service weapon and
fired, he acted quickly enough to save two
lives, including the man he hit. And that
was on top of saving another life when
first arriving on the scene of this call on
Aug. 18, 2017.
“I’m extremely proud and thankful. It’s
a blessing,” confided Guadalupe, who has
been on with Bloomfield for five years.
“We were just happy, honestly, that no
one else got hurt. And that no further in-
cidents occurred.”
Guadalupe, who now serves with
Bloomfield’s Apprehension Team, was on
patrol on the south side of town. A call
came in that a woman on the north side
had been stabbed multiple times.
“My first response was to go up north
and help out whichever way I can,” he
added.
When arriving, he saw the woman sit-
ting on the curb bleeding, with wounds
to her chest and back. Guadalupe helped
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ DECEMBER 2018
Life Saver
render aid until EMS arrived. She wound
up making a full recovery. That was the
first life saved.
After Guadalupe, his supervisor, Ser-
geant Devin Lopez, and another unit se-
cured the first floor of the house where the
incident took place, they advanced to the
second floor, where they saw the wom-
an’s husband with a knife in his hand. He
was yelling, “I’m going to die today,” and
raised the knife in attempt to stab himself.
The officers tried to diffuse the situa-
tion, first by trying to talk the man down
and then by spraying OC. “But the pepper
spray only agitated him more,” Guada-
lupe explained.
Lopez moved to knock the knife out of
the man’s hand by using a piece of mold-
ing he found on the floor. But the man
raised the knife and started to lunge at
Lopez. So Guadalupe fired two shots to
end the threat. Lopez was saved, and so
was the man.
Saving the life of a brother officer
earned Guadalupe the Silver Medal of Val-
or. And being able to save two other lives
confirmed the value of how he approach-
es every day on the job.
“It reminds me to be cautious every
single day,” Guadalupe said. “Be cautious
of what’s going on around you. It’s really
your training. Your training kicks in. It’s
the way you train, it’s the way you prepare,
it’s the way you handle every day at work.”