Obama Honors ‘Top Cops’ in White House Ceremony

Three weeks after praising Massachusetts law enforcement officials for their handling of the manhunt tied to the Boston Marathon bombings, President Obama honored more than 40 officers from across the country named by their peers as this year’s Top Cops.

Recalling the Watertown, Mass., residents who emerged from their homes to cheer for the officers after the capture of the surviving suspect, Mr. Obama said the attacks had been another reminder of the courage of police officers and other first responders.

“We don’t always get that opportunity to stand and applaud the men and women who keep us safe,” he said, standing in front of the honorees in the East Room of the White House. “But they’re out there, hundreds of thousands of you, patrolling our streets every single day. And we know that when we need you most, you’ll be ready to dash into danger, to protect our lives even if it means putting your lives on the line.”

With some senators trying to resuscitate the failed effort to overhaul the nation’s gun laws, Mr. Obama challenged Washington to learn from the officers, calling for “common-sense steps” to make it harder for criminals to get deadly weapons.

“You set an example, because if Top Cops can risk their lives to do their jobs, the rest of us should just be able to summon some tiny fraction of courage and the same sense of responsibility,” he said.

Since 1994, the National Association of Police Organizations has awarded its Top Cops designation each year to law enforcement officers nominated by their colleagues for their noteworthy service.

This year’s recipients included Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot multiple times after being the first officer to respond to the shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin last August, and seven other officers from the Oak Creek, Wis., police department. Other winners came from departments including Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Houston.

In an animated moment, Mr. Obama recounted how Ivan Marcano, a detective with the New York Police Department, intervened in an attack on a cabdriver when he was out with his girlfriend. With his left hand on his chest and his right hand miming a gun, Mr. Obama demonstrated how Mr. Marcano pursued the gunmen even after Mr. Marcano had been shot.

Laughing, Mr. Obama asked Mr. Marcano’s girlfriend â€" a slightly embarrassed-looking woman in a pink dress, sitting in the back of the audience â€" to stand for a round of applause.

“She deserves a really nice dinner after putting her through that,” Mr. Obama said to Mr. Marcano.