BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Sep 3, 2013) - LAwS Communications announces finalists in the second annual 2013 ConnectedCOPS™ Awards, an awards program for law enforcement worldwide using social media. The ConnectedCOPS Awards were created with the intent of recognizing the good work being done by individual officers and law enforcement agencies with social media. Winners from eight categories will be announced at The SMILE Conference® in Omaha, Neb. on September 25.
"It's readily apparent from reading the nominations that the level of sophistication of police use of social media is rising," said Lauri Stevens of LAwS Communications. "Law enforcement is really starting to realize that they need to take a strategic approach and we're seeing more and more agencies adopt a decentralized communications model, which is nice to see!"
Ian Hopkins, deputy chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, said, "It was a pleasure to represent the Association of Chief Police Officers (England & Wales) as a judge in this year's Connected Cops Awards. I was really impressed by the quality of the work that nominees have been producing. The dedication, professionalism and leadership shown in embracing the use of social media to deliver policing outcomes were tremendous. As far as I am concerned it is not an option for police organizations across the world to not engage in harnessing the power of social media. This year's nominees showed just what can be achieved and gave the judging panel real challenges in selecting the winners."
The 2013 ConnectedCOPS Awards finalists are:
Excellence at a Large Agency
Reykjavik Police, Iceland
Saanich Police, British Columbia, Canada
Cape Coral Police, FL, United States
Excellence at a Small Agency
Chelsea Police, Massachusetts, United States
North West Motorway Police Group, United Kingdom
Billerica Police, Massachusetts, United States
Leadership Award
Officer Ryan Grelle, Denton, TX Police, United States
Sergeant Christopher Cook, Arlington, TX Police, United States
Deputy James Hart, Sacramento County Sheriff, CA, United States
Civilian Award of Excellence
Bridget Fitzpatrick, Omaha, NE Police, United States
Dionne Waugh, Richmond, VA Police, United States
Mark Myers, Oklahoma County Sheriff, United States
Top Cop Award
Chief Brian Kyes, Chelsea, MA Police, United States
Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, Toronto, ON Police, Canada
Inspector Michael Brown, West Midlands Police, United Kingdom
Social Media Investigator
Jeff Bangild, Toronto Police, Canada
Eric Draeger, Milwaukee Police, United States
Sam Palmer, Phoenix Police, United States
Social Media Campaign
North Yorkshire Police, United Kingdom
Waterloo Regional Police, ON, Canada
Collier County Sheriff, FL, United States
Social Media Event Management
Calgary Police, AB, Canada
Boston Police, MA, United States
The 2013 ConnectedCOPS Awards will be presented at the eighth SMILE Conference on September 24-26 in Omaha, Neb. Winners in the above eight categories will be honored and their achievements recognized.
The SMILE Conference is the leading conference devoted to Social Media, the Internet and Law Enforcement initiatives. The three-day event focuses on topics of social media strategy, reputation management, policy and other issues pertaining to community outreach. This SMILE Conference will also emphasize event management to include crisis negotiation. Two of the three keynotes for the conference are Deputy Chief Peter Sloly of Toronto Police and Chief Commissioner Peter Muyshondt of the Belgium Police. For more information please visit http://smileconference.com/.
For award criteria, rules and judging information see www.ConnectedCOPS.net/ConnectedCOPSAwards.
About LAwS Communications
LAwS Communications has been providing interactive media advice to law enforcement since 2005. Open Source communication technologies available today allow organizations to efficiently gather and distribute information like never before. LAwS Communications works with law enforcement professionals to help make sense of the tools available, help agencies craft a plan and social media policy as well as provide the training needed. LAwS Communications can help law enforcement organizations not only understand why an agency should take advantage of social media technologies, but also how to leverage these vast resources. LAwS Communications is located in Newbury, Massachusetts. It is a subsidiary of Stevens & Associates Inc.
For more information, please visit http://lawscommunications.com.