SIA and IACP Again Honoring Public-Private Partnerships

Michael Shanahan Leadership in Public/Private Cooperation Award

For the past decade and a half, the Security Industry Association (SIA) has sponsored an award that recognizes how valuable partnerships between the public sector and the private sector can be in enhancing the safety and security of communities.

Once again in 2022, SIA is supporting the Michael Shanahan Leadership in Public/Private Cooperation Award and encouraging SIA members and others who have formed partnerships with law enforcement to submit award applications to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

The award, which is named in honor of the late University of Washington Police Department chief Michael Shanahan, was presented in 2021 to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Texas and five Houston-area groups who created the Clinician and Officer Remote Evaluation (CORE) Telehealth Program, which promotes deescalation by providing for remote mental health assessments of individuals in crisis.

Other recent recipients include a Richmond, Virginia-area program that brings members of the community and law enforcement together through a shared love of sports and an overdose reduction effort in Morris County, New Jersey.

What these programs – and all the honorees over the years – have in common is that they apply innovative techniques that leverage the respective strengths of law enforcement and private sector businesses and organizations in order to address public safety challenges.

All law enforcement agencies – not just police departments – and their private-sector partners are eligible to apply for the award on the IACP website. The deadline for submissions is April 3.

The award will be presented on Oct. 18 during the banquet at the IACP Annual Conference and Exposition in Dallas, Texas.