by Lauri Stevens

The international group of judges of the third annual ConnectedCOPS Awards has determined the finalists for the 2014 awards. The winners will be announced at the SMILE Conference® in Birmingham, UK September 10th.

Winners receive free admission to the conference, an opportunity to present their work, financial assistance and a crystal trophy.

For more information and a description of each away see the ConnectedCOPS blog.

 

The finalists are:

Excellence at a Large Agency
The Dutch National Police, Netherlands
Greater Manchester Police, United Kingdom
Massachusetts State Police, USA

Excellence at a Small Agency
Clovis, CA Police, USA
Eau Claire, WI Police, USA
Mount Pleasant, SC Police, USA

Social Media Investigator
Mark Forss, Helsinki Police, Finland
Inspector Henk van der Linden, Dutch National Police
Detective Janet Zale, Oregon Police, OH, USA

Social Media Campaign
North Yorkshire Police, United Kingdom
Seattle, WA Police, USA
Victoria Police, Melbourne, Australia

Social Media Event Management
No finalists, one winner has been chosen

Civilian Award of Excellence
Jean Turner, RCMP, Canada
Louis Zuniga, RCMP, Canada
Machelle Montgomery, Prince William County Police, VA, USA
Dionne Waugh, Richmond Police, VA, USA
Tom Stirling, North Yorkshire Police, United Kingdom

Leadership
Officer Chris Rasmussen, Redwood City Police, CA, USA
Officer Eric Kulberg, Univeristy of NH Police, NH, USA
Police Constable Jason Peter, Police Scotland, United Kingdom

Top Cop
Chief David Westrick, Hollister Police, CA, USA
Chief Inspector Kerry Blakeman, West Midlands Police, United Kingdom
Inspector Michael Brown, West Midlands Police, United Kingdom

The above individuals and agencies are among the best in the world at leveraging social media in police operations and investigations. We will stream the awards on the LAwS Communications YouTube page on September 10th.

Registration for the SMILE Conference is still open. Join us as we celebrate the success of these ConnectedCOPS!