The NACOLE Achievement in Oversight / Contribution to Oversight Award recognizes a specific accomplishment or contribution to civilian oversight by either an individual, organization, or agency that demonstrates a commitment to effective oversight of law enforcement, jails, or prisons and to NACOLE’s mission, vision, and values.
Nominators must address one or more criteria below which will be used as the basis for evaluation. Nominators should clearly indicate which criteria they are addressing and provide sufficient information - including links to relevant webpages and documents - to evaluate the nominee.
- Effort involved in their achievement or contribution. Examples include time and energy expended; obstacles or opposition encountered; demonstrated courage and conviction; personal or professional sacrifices.
- Skill(s) demonstrated in working towards their achievement or contribution. Examples include civilian oversight skills such as conducting an investigation, audit, or review and changing or implementing a policy or procedure.
- Innovation & Creativity. Examples include innovation or creativity in civilian oversight practices such as conducting an investigation, audit, or review; changing or implementing a policy or procedure; and working to effect legislation to establish, strengthen, or defend oversight.
- Impact on or support of the civilian oversight community. Examples include contributing or supporting changes in a law enforcement agency, jail, or custodial facility; advocating for or advancing legislation; helping create, advance, strengthen or defend oversight in a community; having a significant impact on or significant support for NACOLE and/or civilian oversight.
- Commitment to transparency and community engagement. Examples include researching or reporting on law enforcement, jails, or prisons; advocating for transparency in law enforcement, jails, prisons, and civilian oversight; and working to advance open and constructive dialogue with stakeholders.
- Commitment to NACOLE’s mission, vision, & values (including NACOLE’s Code of Ethics).
Past award recipients include:
- Legislators or elected officials who sponsored legislation that established or strengthened oversight.
- Community activists and organizations that advocated for legislation to establish or improve accountability, or led a successful campaign to defeat a ballot measure that would have weakened oversight of a law enforcement agency.
- Oversight agencies and individual practitioners that performed an exemplary or innovative review, audit, and/or investigation of law enforcement actions.
- An oversight agency whose leadership and staff courageously and successfully resisted an attempt to significantly diminish its independence and effectiveness.
- A non-profit journalism production company that published tens of thousands of police misconduct records in an innovative interactive public database.
- Journalists whose investigative reporting uncovered police killings in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, sparking a federal investigation that led to the prosecution of the officers responsible for the post-Katrina shootings and the cover-up of the shootings.
- Journalists who investigated significant issues in San Diego’s local law enforcement, including deaths in the county jails and patterns of misconduct in the police Department.
- Oversight practitioners whose work contributed to effective oversight in their community or to the oversight community at large.
- An oversight agency attorney who successfully negotiated significant policy changes in the San Francisco Police Department that became models for police and oversight agencies around the country.
- An oversight agency mediation coordinator who developed a highly successful mediation program that became a model for other agencies, and whose expertise and guidance supported creation of similar mediation programs.
Nominees could include (not an exhaustive list):
- Individual oversight practitioners, including oversight agency staff members or members of volunteer oversight boards and commissions
- Oversight agencies, boards, and commissions
- Grassroots or advocacy groups
- Oversight and accountability organizations
- Community activists or activist movements
- Journalists or news organizations
- Academicians
- Researchers
- Individuals, organizations, or government officials or agencies involved with monitoring or implementing consent decrees.
- Civil rights advocates whose work advance effective oversight of law enforcement, jails, or prisons
- Educational institutions