Two West Midlands officers have been shortlisted for their innovative use of social media by an international group of judges.
Chief Inspector Kerry Blakeman and Inspector Michael Brown are finalists in the ‘Top Cop’ annual Connected COPS Awards, along with Californian Chief, David Westrick, from Hollister Police in the USA.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday at the international SMILE (Social Media, the Internet and Law Enforcement) conference, which is taking place at Tally Ho! Training Centre in Birmingham between 9-11 September.
Other 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,” said event organiser Laurie Stevens.
The awards will be streamed live on the LAwS Communications YouTube page on September 10th.
