The ConnectedCOPS Top Cop finalists have been determined. A dozen of the planet's top police executives in five countries were nominated for this award. The finalists in this category have demonstrated exemplary leadership and have mentored their peers.
Because he was so quick to see the benefits of implementing social media into police operations, Deputy Chief Sloly was among the earliest of adopters of open source technology into law enforcement. Some of the first professional police gatherings to address the topic had, and continue to have, Deputy Sloly as their main speaker. He continues to share this enthusiasm and leadership expertise widely to an international audience. He is said to "walk the talk" and has lead the Toronto Police Service to be considered among the best in the world with social media. He leads up and down to create an atmosphere of openness, and encourages all to participate in a Service of 8,000 members.
In addition to his duties as DCC in Tayside, Gordon Scobbie serves as the ACPO appointed Social Media Lead for Police for all of the United Kingdom. DCC Scobbie daily gives of his time and wisdom to help his colleagues learn to also lead with open source technologies and to embrace "what they don't know" in order to better embrace input. Scobbie has traveled internationally to speak to his peers at several major law enforcement conferences and has successfully convinced many of his colleagues to take the risks necessary to gain the many benefits of social media. He is one of few voices to stress engagement over all else in order to also realize the full potential of social media in policing.
CC Hyde has lead the Cumbria Constabulary's social media program to be among the finest in the UK. Chief Hyde is the President of the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace, Vice-President of the High Tech Crime Consortium and was instrumental in the creation of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). CC Hyde gives regularly of his time to support charities including the Blue Lamp Foundation, Marie Collins Foundation and regularly jumps into very cold water to support Comic Relief and Sport Relief.
Inspector van der Linden is a strong force in the strategic use of social media in policing in the Netherlands. As a project manager for the Rotterdam Police, he is an innovative and inspired leader and from that he was a leader in the adoption of social media by the Dutch Police. He is the co-founder of the "9 domains of social media", a program being used as a guideline for the use of social media in law enforcement for the Dutch police and internationally. Because of his incredible work, the Dutch police are considered a European front runner in social media and policing.
Finalists in the other awards categories will be announced throughout this week on this blog. Check back to see the finalists for the Leadership Award tomorrow. Winners will be announced September 10th at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond, Virginia.
Disclaimer: DCC Gordon Scobbie also served as a judge on these awards. He did not judge, nor did he have access to nominee information for, this category.
What a surprise and honor to see I'm nominated for the ConnectedCOPS Top Cop Award. Also congrats for my collegues Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, Deputy Chief Constable Gordon Scobbie and Chief Constable Stuart Hyde. Thank you all for trust and working together for so many years, in real life and by the help of internet and social media.
The real winners are all online Cops in Social Media (and there are lots of) and their followers, world wide. Togehter we can do the job. To you all: keep up the good work!