IACP/ecoATM Leadership in Crime Prevention Award
The IACP/ecoATM Leadership in Crime Prevention Award recognizes innovative, data-driven, low-cost and high-impact crime prevention programs.
Programs recognized for this award should exemplify effective crime reduction strategies and specific measures of success. Agencies must demonstrate how their crime prevention program builds community trust and increases community engagement.
For further information, contact awards@theIACP.org.
2022 Winner
Rajnandgaon Police, District of Chhattisgarh, India
Nijaat (meaning riddance) is a three-step strategy composed of enforcement, awareness, and counseling with the goal of a drug addiction free Rajnandgaon, district of Chhattisgarh. The program started in January 2022 in collaboration with multiple organizations. Since January, the program has resulted in numerous arrests and convictions for various crimes. In addition to the enforcement aspect, the Rajnandaon Police started an outdoor counseling program. By collaborating with medical personnel, they are able to provide quality counseling to individuals within the community. The Rajnandgaon Police focused on educating their officers on drug addiction and its negative impact on the community.
2021 Winner
Denver Police Department
The Denver Police Department, in collaboration with the Mental Health Center of Denver and the Denver Crime Prevention and Control Commission, partnered to launch an ambitious co-responder pilot program. The co-responder program pairs licensed professional behavioral health clinicians with police officers to respond to calls involving people experiencing behavioral health issues and/or co-occurring substance use issues. A co-responder team is dispatched when weapons, threats, or safety issues are involved so that an officer is present to help address any safety issues. These programs are part of a comprehensive approach to increasing safety in the community, addressing individual and community needs with immediate action and long-term support to promote stabilization, access to resources, and strategic utilization of resources through cross-system and cross-discipline public, private, and community coordination and collaboration to ensure flexibility, and the right response in the place, at the right time.
2020 Winner
Thames Valley Police, United Kingdom
As an active university town that also has a vibrant nighttime economy, Oxford and the Thames Valley Police have experienced an increasing challenge in sex crimes. The cross section of students and frequent out of town travelers has led to many incidences of sexual violence that have attracted media attention and been detrimental on the community’s trust of police. The Thames Valley Police have adapted their current role to include developing crime prevention strategies to protect their community. In June 2019, Project Vigilant was set up to specifically target sexual violence in the community. The program was offender focused and included a variety of tactics such as proactive patrols, covert officers, making stops of suspicious persons, leveraging body worn cameras and surveillance videos, investigating all sexual offenses, supporting victims of abuse, and working with the bars and clubs to help identify and take action against sexual predation. By October 2019, Project Vigilant, along with a strong media campaign, helped reduce sexual assaults by 40% and rape by 60%.
2019 Winner
Round Rock, Texas, Police Department
With a heavy increase in online shopping, homes with packages out front have become readily available and easy targets for thieves. The Round Rock Police Department (RRPD) has come up with a unique way to combat this issue, Operation Front Porch, providing the community with an option to ship packages to the police department. Because of the way the program was organized, the day-to-day operations of the program required minimal work for the department’s civilian staff and no work for sworn officers. Instead, the department relied heavily on volunteers to log and distribute packages. In Round Rock, reports of package theft in December rose each year from 2014 (4) to 2015 (8) to 2016 (13). In 2017, the first year of the program, thefts decreased to four. In 2017, approximately 30 packages were delivered during the 22 days RRPD ran the program. In 2018, the community’s use of the program grew to more than 300 packages over 52 days.
2018 Winner
Chandler, Arizona, Police Department
The Chandler Police Department, located in Maricopa County in southern Arizona, established the Guardian Academy to offer basic childcare knowledge to any responsible person put in care, control, custody, and/or guardianship of a child. The program covers various topics and situations that children are exposed to daily, and the warning signs of criminal or risky adolescent behavior. Guardian Academy classes created enthusiasm throughout and beyond the Chandler Unified School District personnel and into the parent-teacher associations, neighborhood groups, crime analysis organizations, and churches. Developed by their Crime Prevention Officer, the program is cost-effective and helps to maintain a high level of trust within the community. As a result, Chandler remains one of the United States’ safest cities with populations over 250,000 residents.
