“Police Officer of the Year” Awarded to Junior Inspector for Heroic Rescue in Montana

The “Police Officer of the Year” awards were presented, with this year’s top prize going to Junior Inspector Kristin Ivanov of the Gendarmerie in Montana. He was recognised for his courageous actions in rescuing a mobility-impaired woman from a car that had fallen into the Skut River at the end of September.

Ivanov entered the river, broke the rear window of the car to extract the victim, and kept her above the water until fire brigade rescue teams arrived.

The first individual award went to Junior Inspector Krasimir Kirilov, a handler of a service dog at the Bregovo Border Police Directorate. Kirilov has carried out 47 successful search operations, preventing 623 illegal crossings by migrants.

During the ceremony, an auction of children's drawings by graduates of the Children's Police Department was organized. The funds raised are to be deposited in the account of the National Charity Campaign for the support of the children of the killed and injured in the line of duty officers of the Ministry of Interior.