This award was named in honor of Sgt. Don Byerley, a member of the Tulsa Police Department from 1969 to 1980. On the evening of October 12, 1980, Sgt. Byerley stopped a traffic violator on Interstate 244 near the Delaware exit. While parked on the side of the road his police car was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by an impaired driver, who was also driving without a driver’s license. Sgt. Byerley was gravely injured in the crash and remained in a coma for two months. He died from his injuries on December 15, 1980.