Star of Courage

• Awarded on: November 3, 1980
• Invested on: March 09, 1981

On 25 March 1979 Thomas Flanagan, Ottawa Deputy Police Chief, induced two bandits holding hostages to surrender to the police. After a pursuit through the city by car, the police surrounded the men, who then threatened to kill the two hostages. When the bandits demanded negotiation, Deputy Chief Flanagan confronted two men in a state of intense agitation. In the dangerous moments that followed he managed to speak to them individually and persuaded them to give up their guns and the hostages.