Butts Jr., speaking to about 200 guests, related his own experience with Herman, who received a medal of merit for making the city's streets safer for pedestrians and motorists. Herman, who has been with the department since 1982, is not only the department's top traffic citation writer, but has a 90-percent success rate in court.

"Five years ago I bought my daughter her first car," Butts said, drolly. "And, five years ago Gary gave my daughter her first ticket."

Ticket-master Herman, greeted as "The Herminator," also received the City Attorney's Award, given by City Attorney Marsha Moutrie, who related a story about how she was pleasantly surprised to receive a telephone call from a former colleague, a veteran traffic violator, who told her that Herman had been very polite, informative and professional when issuing a citation.

Herman was also named Santa Monica Police Officer of the Year, sharing the honor with Officer Mitch Kato, a 13-year veteran of the department and its photographer, who died of cancer in December.

Butts presented a large brass plaque honoring Kato to the dead officer's 17-year-old daughter, Becky, who was accompanied by her mother, Susan Galloway, Kato's former wife and good friend. "We will honor him and remember him always," Butts said. Galloway, Butts and Kato.

"This means a lot to me, it really means everything," Becky Kato, clutching the plaque as she stood beside a poster-sized photograph of her father and his department steed, when he was a member of the department's mounted patrol. "He was a really good father, we were very close. If he were living, I know he'd be so touched."

Actor Charles Haid, probably best known for his portrayal of irascible Officer Andy Renko on the popular television series Hill Street Blues, emceed the ceremony, saying he'd been proud to have portrayed a policeman because he admires the concern that police show for their communities.

Other Medal of Merit award winners include:

· Sgt. Don Quinn for his management of the Technical Services Section of the Office of Administrative Services. Quinn is credited with modernizing the department's fleet of patrol cars and writing a guide that specifies procedures for constructing police vehicles, which has become an industry standard.

· Sgt. Steve Heineman, whose aggressive efforts to crack down on liquor, health and safety violators led to the closure of several businesses. He also acquired hefty grants that helped pay for such sting operations and brought a state educational seminar to the city's bar, liquor store and restaurant workers.

The Lifesaving Medal was bestowed on Sgt. Greg Smiley, who, while off-duty and on his way home, rushed to the aid of two men whose car had veered off of Pacific Coast Highway into the pounding surf after the driver suffered a seizure. Together Smiley and the passenger, Kevin Huton, saved driver Charles Lamoreaux from drowning.

Officers Raymond Fenochio and Adam Barry shared the Medal of Courage for risking their lives on Aug. 18, 1998 to save a woman paralyzed with terror when she found herself in the shooting path of her suicidal boyfriend. Fearing that the vulnerable woman would become a target of the distraught man, Fenochio picked her up and swept her to safety on his shoulders, as Barry provided safety cover.

Citizen Mark Konrad, honored with the department's heavy Plexiglas award etched with the official badge, received a standing ovation from Butts, the officers and city officials, for getting involved and stopping a man from assaulting a woman and then boldly identifying him for police.

"Mr. Konrad took the time to get involved when another person might have walked on by," Haid told the crowd, when presenting Konrad with the department's Citizen Involvement Award.

Five non-sworn department employees shared Employee of the Year honors for their inestimable work.
· Eighteen-year employee Helen Albright, of the Planning and Research Unit, is called the "million-dollar woman" for her successful acquisition of millions of dollars in grant moneys for department programs. Albright has also been instrumental in the formation of the horse patrol, graffiti abatement, scofflaw vehicle booting and bilingual translation programs, and the spay and neuter clinic, among others. She is also credited with getting the department's first requisition of bullet proof vests.

· Jason Mann, who joined the department a year ago as its range master. Mann, formerly with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, has upgraded the department's shooting range and modernized its "Use of Force Facility," trained officers in shooting and informed the community about the dangers officers face daily.

· Eric Uller, a department jack-of-all-trades, also received a standing ovation. There appears to be no one in the department that Uller has not helped with his ability to repair computers, program radios and volunteer for a host of events. He is prized as one of the best dispatchers ever to have worked at the department.

· The department's computer guru, Kevin Watson, has brought his creative design abilities to the department's attractive and informative web site, offering the community the convenience of computer access to the department's services. He was also praised for diplomatically dragging computer-phobes into the modern age and for going the extra mile to requisition grants and secure new programs and software and adjust his schedule to accommodate the varied demands of his job.

· Cory Rytterager, the department's domestic violence counselor, was also honored, but did not attend the event.