The 15th annual Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement this year spotlights programs that combated identity theft in the United States, drug smuggling/addiction in remote areas of Quebec and the organized sex trade in India. Each year, the award recognizes innovative policing programs that can serve as models for law enforcement agencies worldwide.
"This year's Webber Seavey Award recipients are to be commended for stepping up in their own communities to solve problems that in some cases have festered for years," said Mark Moon, vice president of the Government & Commercial Markets Division, Motorola Networks & Enterprise. "We are especially pleased to see the strong participation and recognition of programs from both inside and outside the United States, which serves to inspire innovative policing worldwide."
Named for the IACP's first president, the award is presented annually to agencies and departments in recognition of their promotion of a standard of excellence that epitomizes law enforcement's contribution and dedication to the quality of life in local communities. A total of 123 law enforcement agencies from around the world submitted their crime-fighting programs for recognition this year. A panel of law officials and previous winners selected the top three programs, as well as seven finalists and 15 semi-finalists. All of the award winners will be honored at a breakfast today at the 113th Annual IACP Conference in Boston.
"I applaud this year's IACP/Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement winners," said Chief Mary Ann Viverette of the Gaithersburg, Md., police force and the current president of the IACP. "These law enforcement agencies are breaking new ground and leading the way for our profession. I am certain that these innovative programs will serve as a blueprint to help others develop and strengthen their agencies to make their communities safer."
Winning Programs
- Beaverton Police Department: Beaverton, Oregon, United States Police in Beaverton, Ore., had tracked a significant increase in identity theft and fraud, up 54 percent in just four years. The department formed a Special Enforcement Unit to focus training and other resources on its efforts to combat a crime that can involve high-tech weapons rather than guns or knives. During its first two years, the unit made 494 fraud-related arrests and was able to prevent the loss of more than $701,000 from citizens and businesses in the town of 83,000. The Beaverton police got the special unit off the ground in 2003 with a federal grant of $248,000.
Community education and media outreach were important elements of the award-winning program. The department talked to community groups, especially business and senior citizen organizations, about protecting financial records and transactions. The police also joined forces with a banking industry group to address the problem, and solved a case involving the recovery of more than $126,000.
"Winning the Webber Seavey Award shows that programs that improve quality of life for local citizens are a large part of policing," said Beaverton Police Chief David G. Bishop.
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Westmont, Quebec Tucked away in far Northern areas of Quebec, Canada, 11 culturally distinct aboriginal nations live in communities totaling about 70,000 people. Because of their remote locations and adherence to tribal traditions, many "First Nations" residents are insulated from Canadian society. Organized crime leaders and drug traffickers seized on this, seeking to infiltrate First Nations communities.
The law enforcement agencies of the First Nations sought help from federal and provincial governments in the early part of this decade. Through unprecedented
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cooperation and collaboration, the innovative program netted more than $300 million in drug seizures by March 2005. A Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), composed of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Surete du Quebec and First Nations law officers, enabled officers to get specialized training in fighting organized crime and lent more manpower to the effort to stem drug trafficking. Since its creation in 2005, the CFSEU has completed three major international operations that have led to more than 107 arrests for gang activity, drug trafficking and money laundering.
- District Police Nalgonda: Government of Andhra Pradesh, India Illiteracy and its resultant high unemployment kept a community in the state of Andhra Pradesh in a multi-generational cycle of prostitution as a livelihood. The state was known as the largest supplier of women for sexual exploitation, and as a result had the highest childhood HIV/AIDS infection rate in India. Through Project Aasara, law enforcement officials of the Nalgonda District in the state partnered with government and non-government sources, including the Red Cross, to tackle the crime and rehabilitate "sex workers." In about a year, police charged 210 "procurers and organizers." Because of the program's local success, Aasara will be implemented in the entire state.
"Aasara means shelter or support, and that was what we attempted to provide to victims of trafficking," said Supt. Mahesh Bhagwat, project leader. Bhagwat added that the role of the police has shifted from one of strictly law enforcement to an agency that fosters "rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration" into society.
Traditional law enforcement techniques had failed because they hadn't worked to break the cycle of the sex trade. Through Aasara, women are counseled, receive job training and AIDS education, and their children are eligible to attend a special school. "We have worked hard to help women overcome the social stigma of being a former sex worker, and to reintegrate these women into society," Bhagwat said.
"The most rewarding aspect of the Aboriginal CFSEU's success has been the partnerships created from working together as a team," observed Inspector Yves Trudel of the Quebec force and a unit leader. "Even when officers eventually leave the unit they take with them the knowledge, contacts and valuable experience of learning how to fight organized crime."
