Eureka Police Dept. Press Release:

During the Eureka City Council meeting this Tuesday night (4/16/13), Eureka resident William L. McCurdy became the second recipient of the Eureka Police Department’s new Valor-Service challenge coin award. Speaking before the council, Chief Harpham and one of his sergeants awarded McCurdy a coin along with a letter of appreciation in recognition of a helpful and honorable act he recently performed. Mr. McCurdy’s letter of appreciation describes his good deed as follows:

“On April 6th, 2013 you found a woman’s lost wallet at a car wash on the 1400 block of Broadway, Eureka. The wallet contained over $300.00 cash along with its owner’s driver’s license, Social Security card, and credit cards. You took the time to attempt to locate the wallet’s owner at the address listed on her driver’s license and through a Facebook search but were unsuccessful. You then brought the wallet to EPD headquarters. An EPD officer was able to contact the owner who identified and later reclaimed her lost property. The owner was very appreciative to have so quickly recovered her belongings without any loss due to your helpful and honorable actions.”

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The letter of appreciation reads in part:

The Eureka Police Department is committed to promoting community policing concepts and positive relations with the public we serve. We further this purpose by acknowledging citizens like you who commit acts of extraordinary kindness, unselfishly give of themselves to help others, or perform other good deeds that go above and beyond the normal courtesies society expects.

To this end, we commissioned the minting of a special “challenge coin” to be awarded to deserving individuals who give of themselves in an exceptional manner. This unique full-color coin represents the Eureka Police Department’s cherished values of VALOR,SERVICE, and COMMUNITY and may be carried proudly. These values are printed on the coin’s face surrounding the Great Seal of the State of California. The reverse side of the coin depicts the emblem found on the Eureka Police Department patch.