Evening star., 1949-10-07
Policeman Of Month
Award Is Added 10
Sergt. Keene' 'sRecord

SCIyI' 'NVCIIC SNVIVIu
Nominated for the Monthly
Award of Merit for August,
1949 :"
This is the latest notation on
one of the longest lists Of COM
mendations in the service records
of the Metropolitan Police De-
partment.
It was entered in the service rec
ord of Sergt. Arthur G. Keene Of
No. 8 Precinct, who yesterday was
given the Policeman of the Month
award at ceremonies in the West
chester Apartments.
Just above the latest notation
in his record is a commendation
from Police Supt. Robert j. Bar
rett for the Leadership. bravery
and service beyond the line Of
duty" for which he won the award.
The commentator, the 18th
since he joined the force in 1880,
told the following story:
Early on the morning Of August
7, Sergt. Keene was called to aid
two other policemen in arresting
drunken. armed man on the
second floor of a rooming house
in the $500 block Of Reno road
NV. When Sergt. Keene arrived.
he found the man had driven two
persons from the house and had
fired a shotgun when police tried
to arrest him.
Shoots Again.
The two roomers who had been
driven from the house were stand
ing in the street In their night
clothes. The mother of the armed
man, later identified as Lester A.
Reeves, jr.. 26. told the policeman
her son had been a mental patient
at Gallinger Hospital in 1947 after
a suicide attempt.
I'll shoot anyone who tries to
get me-" the armed man shouted.
Sergt. Keene tried to. persuade
Reeves to surrender. He was an
swered with another shot. Sergt.
Keene kept talking, and finally
Reeves agreed to put down his
gun, il the sergeant did likewise.
So Sergt. Keene put his revolver
on a hall table downstairs and
started up the steps. He disarmed
the man and arrested him. Reeves
was sent to Gallinger for mental
observation and later transferred
to st. Elizabeths.
The award committee pointed
out that Sergt. Keene would have
been within his rights to shoot the
man. :.
The medal was presented during
a luncheon of the Friendship
Lions Club. The club gave the
officer q plaque in recognition OF
his heroism. It also presented a
plaque to Pvt. Edwin York, also
of the No. 8 Precinct. who won
the award in September. 1948.
Inspector Floyd Truscott, who
pinned the medal on Sergt. Keene's
uniform, recalled the latter's long
record of outstanding service.
Capt. John Fondahl Of No. 8 said
it was as impressive a record as
any he knew.
Arrests Noted.
The record includes the clear
ing up of 81 cases of housebreak-
ing in the arrest Of one man, the
arrest Of three burglars on sepa-
rate occasions and recovery Of a
stolen automobile.
It also includes such things as
being struck by an automobile
while he was talking to the pre-
cinct on a call box.
1.-THE car struck my ankle" the
sergeant recalled. 1T had hit an
other car. and then run into me.
I was really on the scene in that
one."
In another case, he was bitten
on, the right hand by dog. mot
serious" the record states.
During World War II, Sergt.
Keene served as a major with the
Army investigating services. He Is
46, married and lives at 1926
Reservoir road NV.
There was one thing about the
last notation in the record that
puzzled the award committee
composed of newspapermen. How
did the papers miss the story
when it first happened? The an