The National Law Enforcement Challenge 2003 Winners Announced

The results are in and the winners have been notified for the 2003 IACP National Law Enforcement Challenge Awards! If you haven’t heard about the Law Enforcement Challenge by now, read on and discover the rewards that traffic safety enforcement hold for your department.

The Law Enforcement Challenge is a national highway safety competition developed under a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and designed to encourage departments to step up enforcement in the target areas of impaired driving, occupant protection and speed enforcement. Agencies compete against like sized agencies and are judged on several categories such as:

• Policy statements
• Officer training
• Public information and education
• Enforcement activity
• Program effectiveness
• Quality of submission

Agencies interested in applying for the Law Enforcement Challenge should contact IACP Program Manager Rick Larson (LarsonR@theiacp.org) for an official application form. The application process is simple. The successful department will submit a (maximum 1-inch) binder with the completed application form and appropriate supporting material for their programs and campaigns. Examples of suitable material include: press clippings, photos of enforcement events, single samples of public information and education efforts, and charts or graphs illustrating the results of enforcement activities.

A judging panel comprised of law enforcement representatives, traffic safety professionals and concerned corporate partners review all qualifying applications and refer the top candidates for final approval by the IACP’s Highway Safety Committee at their mid year meeting in June of every year. The winning agencies are notified by mail and the first place winners in every category are awarded one free conference registration, one free round trip airfare and three nights’ hotel stay for the IACP’s Annual Conference. All winning agencies are recognized at an official awards breakfast during the conference week where they will receive their awards. Finally, at this awards breakfast, all first place winners from each category will have the chance to win the use of a fully outfitted Ford Excursion for one year, courtesy of Ford Motor Company.

This past June, the IACP’s Highway Safety Committee decided on the following results for the 2003enforcement year:

Championship Class
1st	Buffalo Grove PD
2nd	Fairfax County PD
3rd	Jacksonville SO
4th	Naperville PD
5th Tie	North Dakota Highway Patrol
5th Tie	Lake Zurich PD

Municipal Agencies
1 - 10 Sworn			11 - 25 Sworn
1st	West Point, VA Police Department		1st	Glen Carbon, IL Police Department
2nd	Sneads, FL Police Department		2nd	Olney, IL Police Department
3rd	Blountstown, FL Police Department		3rd	Lake Clarke Shores, FL Police Department
Tie	East Hazel Crest, IL Police Department		Tie	Adel, GA Police Department
26 - 50 Sworn			51 - 100 Sworn
1st	Tarpon Springs, FL Police Department		1st	Winter Park, FL Police Department
2nd	New Lenox, IL Police Department		2nd	Greenbelt, MD Police Department
3rd	Algonquin, IL Police Department		3rd	Harrisonburg City, VA Police Department
Tie	Villa Park, IL Police Department		Tie	Mount Prospect, IL Police Department
			Tie	Redwood City, CA Police Department
101 - 250 Sworn			251 - 500 Sworn
1st	Port Saint Lucie, FL Police Department		1st	Springfield, IL Police Department
2nd	Schaumburg, IL Police Department		2nd	Hollywood, FL Police Department
3rd	Roanoke, VA Police Department		3rd	Chesterfield County, VA Police Department
Tie	Palm Beach Gardens, FL Police Department
501 - 1,000 Sworn			1,001 - 2,000 Sworn
1st	Colorado Springs, CO Police Department		1st	Atlanta, GA Police Department
2nd	Tulsa, OK Police Department		2nd	El Paso, TX Police Department
3rd	Fresno, CA Police Department		3rd	City of Miami, FL Police Department
2,000+
1st	Los Angeles, CA Police Department
2nd	Chicago, IL Police Department

State and Highway Patrol Agencies
1 - 250 Sworn			251 - 500 Sworn
1st	Wyoming Highway Patrol		1st	Alaska State Troopers
501 - 1,000 Sworn			1,000 - 2,500 Sworn
1st	Georgia State Patrol		1st	Arizona Department of Public Safety
			2nd	Virginia State Police
			3rd	Maryland State Police
			Tie	Florida State Police
2,500+ Sworn
1st	California Highway Patrol
2nd	New York State Police
3rd	Pennsylvania State Police

Sheriff's offices
1 - 10 Sworn			11 - 25 Sworn
1st	Essex County, VT Sheriff's Office		1st	New Kent County, VA Sheriff's Office
2nd	Taliaferro County, GA Sheriff's Office		2nd	Franklin County, GA Sheriff's Office
3rd	Washington County, VT Sheriff's Office		3rd	Grand Isle County, IL Sheriff's Office
26 - 50 Sworn			51 - 100 Sworn
1st	Livingston County, IL Sheriff's Office		1st	Frederick County, VA Sheriff's Office
2nd	Tift County, GA Sheriff's Office		2nd	Kankakee County, IL Sheriff's Office
3rd	Ogle County, IL Sheriff's Office		3rd	Madison County, IL
101 - 250 Sworn			251 - 500 Sworn
1st	Forsyth County, GA Sheriff's Office		1st	Osceola County, FL Sheriff's Office
2nd	Martin County, FL Sheriff's Office		2nd	Will County, IL Sheriff's Office
3rd	Leon County, FL Sheriff's Office		3rd	Hall County, GA Sheriff's Office
501 - 1,000 Sworn			1,001 - 2,000 Sworn
1st	Collier County, FL Sheriff's Office		1st	Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff's Office
2nd	Pinellas County, FL Sheriff's Office		2nd	Palm Beach County, FL Sheriff's Office
3rd	Polk County, FL Sheriff's Office		3rd	Orange County, FL Sheriff's Office
Other Agencies
Universities			State Associations
1st	Florida State University Police Department		1st	Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police
2nd	University of Richmond Police Department		2nd	Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police
3rd	University of North Florida Police Department
Multi-jurisdictional			Tribal Police
1st	Avoid the 21, CA		1st	White Earth Tribal Police Department
2nd	Marion County Traffic Safety Partnership, IN
3rd	Metro Atlanta HEAT, GA
Special Enforcement			Private Agencies
1st	Vermont Police Department of Motor Vehicles		1st	Institute of Police Technology and Management, FL
2nd	Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department

Special Award Categories
Clayton J. Hall Memorial	West Point Police Department, VA
First Time Entry	Glen Carbon, IL Police Department
Child Passenger Safety	California Highway Patrol (tied with)
	Fairfax County Police Department, VA
Impaired Driving Enforcement	Fairfax County Police Department, VA (tied with)
	Avoid the 21, CA
Occupant Protection	Port Saint Lucie, Police Department, FL
Speed Awareness	Kissimmee Police Department
Underage Alcohol Prevention	Madison County Sheriff's Office, IL
Technology	Valdosta Police Department, GA

In the end, the real winners are the citizens and the visitors of our jurisdictions. Simply by participating, agencies acknowledge the importance of traffic safety and the critical role it plays in day to day policing. The IACP along with all our partners in highway safety say CONGRATULATIONS to the 2003 Law Enforcement Challenge winners for standing out from over 400 applications this year and we’ll see you in Los Angeles.