2011 Awards

Excellence in Law Enforcement Research

International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)/Sprint awards Meeker County Sheriff's Office Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award.

The Meeker County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is pleased to announce that it has been selected to receive the prestigious 2010 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)/Sprint Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award. This award recognizes MCSO for it's leadership and contributions in the research of safe practices during law enforcement encounters.

The international award recognizes a single law enforcement agency each year that demonstrates excellence in initiating, collaborating, and employing research to improve law enforcement operations and public safety. "Applicants for this award represented smaller, midsize and larger agencies of all types across the United States and included submittals from other countries as well," said Ronal Serpas, Research Advisory Committee Co-Chair.

The MCSO received the award announcement on July 26, 2010, when John Firman, IACP Research Program Director, informed the office the MCSO had risen to the top with its research submission and was selected over the top 2 runners-up, a large eastern metropolitan police agency in Pennsylvania, and a mid-sized police agency in Oklahoma. The agency names are being withheld until the award ceremony. The 2009 award recipients were the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Ontario Provincial Police agencies.

Firman informed the MCSO that he was particularly pleased that a Sheriff's Office was to be the recipient of the award (thought to be the first in IACP history), since IACP is thought to be primarily a municipal police organization. These project findings will provide service and open exchange of information to all types of law enforcement agencies.

The MCSO partnered with the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) Department of Emergency Medicine on the project submission of Human Acidosis and Catecholamine Evaluation Following Simulated Law Enforcement "Use of Force" Encounters.

In layman terms, it compares different tools and tactics that law enforcement officers use to control agitated, violent subjects to determine the methods that are safest for the subject. Many in the past have debated this topic but there has not been a definitive, scientific study done on this subject until now. This groundbreaking study now provides trainers, administrators and front-line officers with knowledge about best-practice standards from a medical safety perspective. This year the MCSO has begun training it's officers on this subject to prevent an arrest related death following use of force encounters.

Jeffrey Ho, M.D., both a MCSO Deputy Sheriff and HCMC Emergency Physician who is active in law enforcement research, has been able to tap into the resources of both agencies to examine emergency medical care and use of force practices from a scientific standpoint. Ho submitted the research project for consideration by the IACP selection committee and gave credit to both agencies for their commitment to public safety.

The partnership between a law enforcement agency and a hospital is somewhat unique. HCMC is recognized as one of the top hospitals in the nation and participates in emergency care research and law enforcement outreach programs under the direction of Ho. Ho states, "Meeker County and HCMC Chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Joe Clinton, have clearly committed to partnering in a way that allows me to find the scientific link between law enforcement and medicine. Through this training partnership and research, both agencies can claim credit for being progressive about bringing important information forward to benefit law enforcement officers and the public that it serves. We will continue to look for ways to partner to benefit public safety."

The award and judging criteria focus on Leadership, Partnerships, Uniqueness of Research, Quality of Research, and Influence of Research Findings.

The Award will be presented to members of the MCSO at the 117th IACP Conference in Orlando, FL, this October. There is no cost to taxpayers for this Award. The IACP Conference is attended by over 12,000 law enforcement executives from around the world and is one of the largest law enforcement expositions in the world. Agencies that submitted applications for this award include the California Highway Patrol, Houston Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, Unites States Secret Service, Phoenix Police Department, Denver Police Department, Minneapolis Police Department, Baltimore Police Department and 49 other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.