The Denver Police Protective Association recently named its 2016 scholarship recipients and awarded $20,000 in scholarship money to five local students pursuing higher education degrees. The recipients included:

• First Place – $7500: Alexandra Awe, daughter of Officer Dennis Awe
• Second Place – $5000: Olivia Cordova, daughter of Detective Mike Cordova (She also received a scholarship in 2015)
• Third Place – Fifth Place $2500/each
— Samantha Leger, daughter of Lieutenant Ed Leger and sister of Officer Sadie Leger (Samantha received a scholarship from us in 2014)
— Alyssa Suniga, daughter of Sergeant Rudy Suniga
— Nathan Novotny, son of Sergeant Mark Novotny and brother of Officer Chelsea Novotny (Nathan received a scholarship from us in 2014)

Each of the students participated in the Association’s annual scholarship challenge, which asks applicants to submit information about their community service and their academics along with an essay discussing their personal positions on body cameras on police officers. A panel of judges including Keating Wagner Polidori Free attorneys Larry Free and Christina Habas reviewed all of the applications before selecting the winners.
Awe, Suniga and Novotny will all be attending the University of Colorado Denver in the coming year. Cordova will be attending the Colorado School of Mines and Leger is in graduate school at Parker University.

The Denver Police Protective Association works tirelessly to protect the rights of law enforcement personnel and promote professionalism. Over 100 years old, the DPPA has become the largest and most respected police organization in Colorado. For the last few years, the Association has granted scholarships to one or more family members of active DPPA personnel to help them pursue degrees in higher education.