They applied life-saving tourniquets, sidelined reckless drivers and took a knife away from a man trying to stab himself.

Montgomery County Police honored its officers — and a some civilians — Wednesday for acts that required quick thinking to save people from harm or death. A ceremony at the Police Department’s Gaithersburg headquarters also recognized officers who had nabbed burglars and took guns and drugs off the streets.

Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada said many of the honorees made “split-second decisions,” including some where they put their own safety at risk.

“These are things that happen each and every day on every shift,” he said. “I’m only sorry we can’t recognize everyone, or we’d be here for weeks at a time.”

Montgomery County’s police department has nearly 1,100 sworn officers. The department commended about 75 Wednesday. Here are a few of the stories behind the honors.

Quick thinking

Sgt. Gary Guard received the Guardian award for making a “snap decision” on April 28 during the Pike’s Peek 10K race, which drew 2,000 participants this year and closed streets near state Route 355 and Redland Road. A woman in an SUV attempted to drive onto Redland, ignoring several officers’ commands to stop.

That’s when Guard decided to jump in his nearby patrol cruiser and maneuver it to block the SUV. Police then arrested her.

A kitchen knife

Second District Cmdr. Amy Daum praised Officers Benjamin Briggs and Susanne Min for defusing a “rapidly evolving and extremely dangerous situation” on Jan. 26 in which a man was in the midst of a mental health crisis at a Bethesda home.

Daum said Min leaned into her training and spoke compassionately to a man who was threatening to hurt himself with a large kitchen knife.

When the man began stabbing himself, Briggs used a stun gun on him. When that didn’t stop him, Briggs wrestled the knife away from the man before he and Min applied pressure to his wounds until emergency medical workers arrived.

“They prevented a tragedy,” Daum said.

Briggs and Min received the Lifesaving award.

A tourniquet

Officer Uneeb Anjum also received the Lifesaving award, for applying a tourniquet to a shooting victim on July 28 in the White Oak neighborhood. When Anjum reached the victim, he was bleeding heavily from his arm.

Anjum, on the force for the past three years, told The Banner he was born in Pakistan and is the first in his family to work in law enforcement.

He said he has applied three or four other tourniquets on the job, and that he loves his work.

“To put this uniform on and help people in a crisis, helps keep me motivated and going every day,” he said.