SACRAMENTO – The California Highway Patrol (CHP) announces that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has awarded the CHP overall first place in the 2012 National Law Enforcement Challenge (NLEC).
The NLEC is a nationwide law enforcement awards program that recognizes excellence in traffic safety, with the goal of reducing the number of tragedies that occur on our nation’s roadways
By participating in the challenge, agencies have the opportunity to learn from one another and improve their own traffic safety programs. The challenge highlights a law enforcement agency’s policy, training, employee recognition, community outreach, enforcement of applicable laws, and the overall effectiveness of their efforts in addressing collisions caused by speeding impaired driving, and occupant restraint violations.
“Through this competition, the CHP is able to evaluate our own traffic safety programs allowing us to set new goals so we may better serve the people of California,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “This is the true reward of this competition.”
The CHP claimed top honors in the “Championship Class,” which is a competition between all agencies receiving first place honors in the 2011 NLEC.
“This recognition is a direct reflection of the outstanding work of our officers in the field and the education efforts of our Public Information Officers,” says the CHP in their press release.
In addition to winning the “Championship Class” in traffic safety, the CHP was awarded top honors for its efforts in underage alcohol prevention. This achievement is a direct result of the CHP’s teenage driver educational campaigns like “Start Smart,” “Every 15 Minutes,” and “Impact Teen Drivers” combined with its enforcement efforts, which contributed to a 22 percent reduction in the number of injury and fatal traffic collisions from 2,209 in 2008, to 1,723 in 2011 caused by underage impaired drivers between the ages 14-20. That combined with a 24.7 percent decrease in the number of underage alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal traffic collisions, shows a direct correlation to the CHP patrol officers and Public Information Officers extra efforts in reducing the number of underage impaired drivers.
The CHP received the award for overall first place and top honors during the IACP’s Annual Conference and Expo held October 19 – 23 in Philadelphia, PA.
“I am humbled by the traffic safety efforts of our officers and honored to accept this award on behalf of the CHP,” added Commissioner Farrow. “As the nation’s largest state police agency, we are proud of the efforts our officers have made in educating our communities and saving lives.”
The IACP is the world’s oldest and largest non-profit organization of police executives with more than 20,000 law enforcement professionals in more than 100 countries around the world as members. Overall, more than 200 law enforcement agencies competed in the 2012 challenge.
