The Cincinnati Police Department was honored today with the 17th annual Webber Seavey Award for quality in law enforcement from Motorola, Inc. and the International Association of Chief’s of Police for the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) Program. Motorola and the IACP annually seek out and recognize innovative law enforcement programs that can serve as role models for other agencies.

This award is named for the IACP’s first president and was awarded at the IACP’s 115th Annual Conference in San Diego, California. This year’s field included 156 applicants that wanted to share their positive experiences with their peers. The Cincinnati Police Department was one of three recipients of the award. Police agencies in Belgium and India were also selected.

The CIRV program is a multi-agency and community collaborative effort initiated in 2007 designed to quickly and dramatically reduce gun-violence and associated homicides, with sustained reductions over time. A key to the program is providing streamlined social services, training, education, and employment opportunities to those offenders seeking a more productive lifestyle.

“We realized we had to do something different and there had to be a better way to deal with crime than simply arresting people,” said Colonel Thomas H. Streicher, Jr., Police Chief. “Group/gang involved homicides have been reduced 38% through the first year of the program. Our success is extremely contagious and we know we are turning lives around”