Four officers receive state’s top police bravery medal

New at 10, the Massachusetts State House held the 43rd Annual Trooper George L. Hanna Memorial Award Ceremony, the Commonwealth's highest medals given to law enforcement. One of the officers that received the Medal of Honor serves the Western Mass community. Holyoke native and police officer Stephen Negron was involved in an incident we first reported on in July 2025. He and his partner were outside the Holyoke Mall investigating a shoplifting suspect. That's when the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at Negron, both shooting at each other. Negron wasn't injured while the suspect was hit. The officer then provided medical aid to the suspect that just shot at him until paramedics arrived. Officer Negron told us what this honor means to him. That's what we're trained to do. A lot of people think that when we have to use a firearm, it's shoot to kill. It's stop the threat. The awards itself is much larger than any of us. It represents our families, our friends that support us, but also our departments because it shows, I think, the Commonwealth that we're willing to go above and beyond for any citizen here. Three other officers also received the Medal of Honor. The award is named after Trooper George Hanna, who was shot to death at a February 1983 traffic stop in Auburn. Thank you.