Establishment of the Purple Heart Award (1996)
The Hispanic Advisory Committee suggested to the Administrator the establishment of an award to honor the thousands of men and women sworn to enforce the drug laws of the United States...who deserve the full benefit of our recognition of the inherent dangers of our profession. In response to that suggestion, the DEA Purple Heart Award was instituted.
As of January 1, 1996, any DEA Agent wounded in the line of duty became eligible to receive the DEA's new Purple Heart Award. Based on the design of the military's Purple Heart Award presented for battle injuries, the DEA emblem honors agents who suffered injuries that required medical treatment or caused death and were incurred during the performance of official duties as the direct result of a hostile or criminal action.
The heart-shaped pendant, with a DEA Special Agent's badge embossed on a purple background, is suspended from a red, white, and blue ribbon. The award is presented in a glass-front shadowbox and was accompanied by a lapel pin in a smaller version of the pendant. With the creation of this award, the DEA established an appropriate and significant way to recognize those employees who were injured while confronting the everyday dangers faced by those in drug law enforcement.
In 1998, the DEA's SAC Advisory Committee expanded the awarding of Purple Hearts to state and local law enforcement officers killed or wounded in the line of duty while working with the DEA.
