New Organized Crime Unit and Retail Partnership recognized as major innovations in Law Enforcement
Mayor Berry, Chief Schultz and members of APD's construction, hospitality, retail and financial alliances announce the awards.
The Albuquerque Police Department has recently been notified that it will receive two of law enforcement’s most prestigious awards at next month’s International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Mayor Richard J. Berry announced Thursday.
The Awards - The Webber S. Seavey and the Michael Shanahan – are two of the most prestigious awards sought after by law enforcement agencies worldwide. APD will receive the Webber Seavey Award for the work of the new Organized Crime Unit and will be honored with the Shanahan award for its ongoing partnership with the retail industry to fight property crime.
“This recognition reaffirms what we have been saying all along….We have one of the best law enforcement agencies in the country,” Mayor Richard J. Berry said. “It’s clear that the Albuquerque Police Department is a leader when it comes to innovations in law enforcement.”
Jointly sponsored by International Association of Chief’s of Police and Motorola, the Webber Seavey Award is presented annually to agencies and departments worldwide in recognition for promoting a standard of excellence that exemplifies law enforcement's contribution and dedication to the quality of life in local communities. This program helps law enforcement agencies worldwide and the communities they serve by redefining the concept of law enforcement and how it is routinely performed. The award is named for Webber S. Seavey, the IACP's first president. The program annually honors achievements in one or more of the following goals: Continually improving services to the community; Strengthening police relations and promoting community participation; Effectively using resources; Enhancing communications within and cooperation among agencies; and Developing creative and innovative approaches that promote excellence in law
Thousands of agencies worldwide applied for the award. APD submitted its Organized Crime Unit for the award, which was formed in September 2011. OCU provides an innovative approach to working with members from our private sector business community to address serial criminal activity. OCU works directly with businesses linked public-private partnerships that have been established with the retail, hospitality, banking and construction industries (the first one of these partnerships was established in 2006). Lighthouse Point Police Department and the Fontana Police Department also received this year’s Webber Seavey.
This is the first time APD has won the Webber Seavey award. Last year, the department was a Top 10 finalist for this recognition for the alliance it formed with the Construction Industry. Police Chief Raymond D. Schultz will accept the award at the International Association of Chief’s of Police Conference on Sept. 30 in San Diego.
Chief Schultz is also expected to accept the Michael Shanahan Award for Excellence in Public-Private Cooperation at IACP. The Shanahan award recognized APD’s partnership with the Albuquerque Retail Assets Protection Association
Through ARAPA, law enforcement officers and businesses have expanded their ability to share information by using a web-based, real-time alert system known as Community Oriented Notification Network Enforcement Communication Technology (CONNECT). This information exchange has enabled police and retail loss prevention specialists to piece together information more efficiently and catch more perpetrators of property crime. In each full year since 2008, the first year CONNECT went online, the local district attorney’s office has prosecuted more than 400 felony cases that resulted from the program.
The Shanahan Award – which is sponsored by the IACP the Security Industry Association (SIA). - honors the late Chief Michael Shanahan, who served the University of Washington Police Department for 24 years before retiring in 1995. He made significant contributions to public safety not only as the UWPD chief but also as the co-chairman of the IACP’s Private Sector Liaison Committee from 1985 to 1999. Under his leadership, the committee focused on solutions to critical issues such as product tampering; drugs in the workplace; alarm management; guidelines for non-sworn responders to alarms; workplace and school violence; and hiring and training guidelines for security guards.
“For the Albuquerque Police Department, ARAPA and our other private sector business partners are equal partners in how we fight the crime,” Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said. “Whether retail, construction, hospitality or banking, all of the professionals aligned with these businesses have a vested interest in a safer community, we just have to open the door and let them in. Our community is our eyes and ears for what is happening on our streets, in our parking lots and at our businesses. Law enforcement will never have enough officers to see and hear what they can help us identify. All of us at the department are proud of the recognition that we are receiving from the IACP and SIA.”
SIA CEO Don Erickson said that the Albuquerque program offers an example of how security technology can be used most effectively.
“Technology can provide amazing solutions for law enforcement and security professionals, as the police department and businesses in Albuquerque are demonstrating,” Erickson said. “By combining the resources of the public and private sector, they are managing risk, increasing security and locking up criminals. SIA is proud to sponsor this award and to recognize the great things that Albuquerque’s police and retailers have accomplished.”
