On Wednesday, February 11 at 2:00pm in City Council Chambers, Motorola, Inc. Vice President Jack Malloy will present Mayor Mark Mallory with the Webber Seavey Award for quality in law enforcement for the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence. This prestigious award is sponsored by Motorola and the International Association of Chiefs of Police to recognize innovative law enforcement programs that can serve as models for other agencies. Applications for more than 150 programs were submitted to the selection panel from law enforcement agencies around the world. CIRV was one of only three winners, along with a case management program for police and prosecutors in Rajasthan, India, and the European Union’s training program for Iraqi police. The award is named for the IACP’s first president Webber S. Seavey in recognition of his dedication to professionalism and problem solving as fundamentals of quality law enforcement.

The CIRV program began in 2007 as a multi-agency and community effort aimed to reduce gun violence and homicides. Four strategy teams of law enforcement, researchers, social service agencies and community leaders work to reduce street homicidal group/gang violence and engage members of violent groups to connect with social services, training, education and employment opportunities. For the year ending December 31, 2008, group member-involved homicides decreased 23.4 percent (47 in 2007 vs. 36 in 2008). Group member-involved homicides for the 15-month period prior to CIRV (July 2006 to September 2007) totaled 71; the total for the 15 months after CIRV began (October 2007 to December 2008) was 43, a decrease of 39.4 percent. Of 403 probationers and parolees invited to “call-in” sessions, 300 attended at least one session; 207 CIRV clients have started job training, and 68 are currently employed.