Quality in law enforcement is a vital asset to the community, and should be encouraged, promoted and formally recognized. The philosophy behind this award is to recognize excellence in policing and to encourage member law enforcement agencies to share with their peers those programs they've developed to address community problems and have enhanced them in the eyes of their respective communities.

Award Categories:

The project should focus on achievements in one or more of the following award categories:

• Continual improvement of services to the community.
• Strengthening of police relations and promotion of community participation.
• Effective use of resources in addressing a significant community concern.
• Enhancement of communication within and cooperation among law enforcement agencies, and/or other service providers.
• Development of creative and innovative approaches that raise the quality and effectiveness of law enforcement.
• Successful strategies for enhancing quality of life within the community by implementing initiatives to increase citizen safety and security.

Submissions will be evaluated by the FPCA Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Awards Committee made up of chief executives of Florida law enforcement agencies.

Sharing Excellence:

The most important goal of the Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Award is to foster the exchange of ideas and solutions to problems so others can learn and benefit. This is accomplished by inviting recipients to the Installation & Awards Banquet at the annual summer conference, and by publishing an article in the first Florida Police Chief Magazine publication after the conference.

Eligibility:

The Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Award is open to all Florida Police Chiefs Association member public law enforcement agencies. To enter, each agency must submit a description of its local project or process that details how well it has achieved one or more of the six previously described initiatives. Agencies can submit for multiple projects.

Award Recipients:

Annually, three awards will be presented to one winner from each of the following sized agencies:

• Small (1 - 30 sworn officers)
• Medium (31 - 75 sworn officers)
• Large (more than 75 sworn officers)

Submissions must be signed by the senior-ranking officer of each agency. Generally, this official is the chief of police of a municipality, the sheriff of a county, or the director of law enforcement of a state agency. If an agency wins the award for a particular program or initiative, it is eligible to compete again as long as it does not submit the same program or initiative.

Judging Criteria:

The basic premise behind the Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Award is to recognize Florida Police Chiefs Association member agencies for implementation of programs that assess their effectiveness in addressing a particular problem or challenge they've faced. Projects will be evaluated in several areas including project selection, analysis techniques, solutions and results. Consideration will be given to how well the applicant agency identified the problem the project addressed, how solutions were developed and implemented, and how they institutionalized the project (ensured that it will have enduring results).

Ongoing projects are eligible for consideration so long as applicant agencies can demonstrate significant progress toward project goals.

Timetable:

• April 15: Submission deadline
• May 30: Recipients notified

Summer Conference:

Submissions will be accepted for projects that commence following the previous summer conference.

Submission:

The project submission should be clear and concise, and should follow a logical sequence from problem identification and analysis through implementation, results, and institutionalization. Particular emphasis should be placed on the improvement process. All documentation must follow the required format: project document (essay no more than 5 pages) and the abstract (no more than one page typewritten) and must be sent to the Florida Police Chiefs Association. NO NOTEBOOKS, please.

Key consideration in evaluating this component include: Does it follow a logical sequence? Is the primary emphasis on the improvement process? Does the submission follow the required format?

All submissions should be sent to:

FPCA Headquarters via mail at, 924 North Gadsden Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32303