Six Police Chiefs Receive "Crime Fighter" Awards

Each year, we recognize members of our organization that have shown a continued commitment to promoting solutions that help at-risk kids succeed and avoid a life of crime.

This year, at the Major Cities Chiefs Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police conferences, we recognized the following six chiefs of police who have shown a continued commitment to promoting those solutions.

Chief Art Acevedo

Chief Art Acevedo, from Houston, TX, has been a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids for more than 10 years. For the past six years, he has served on our board of directors.

During that time, Chief Acevedo has participated in several opportunities that highlighted the importance of early childhood education and community-based interventions that can reduce recidivism among youth. Recently, he participated in a panel discussion at SXSW discussing how early investments in kids can reduce crime, increase our national security and improve our workforce.

In addition, he was instrumental in helping us open our Texas office and he has met with key policymakers in Texas to encourage investments in high-quality early childhood care and education so that kids receive a strong start in life.

Pictured (left to right): Chief Art Acevedo, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids National Director Josh Spaulding, and Chief Mike Brown

While Chief of Police in Austin, TX, Chief Acevedo hosted our newly created Police Training Institute to train his officers on how to de-escalate conflict effectively and how to have safe, positive interactions with at-risk youth.

Chief Mike Brown

Chief Mike Brown, from Salt Lake City, Utah joined Fight Crime: Invest in Kids as a member in 2015 and has been a consistent champion in our mission to increase the chances that young people are set up for healthy and productive lives.

There are few members whose support has stretched across so many issue areas. Just some of the many issues that Chief Brown has weighed in include juvenile justice reform, voluntary parent coaching, children’s health insurance, and recently, efforts to mitigate the opioid crisis. From letters and calls to policymakers, to press events, three years of children’s book drive, and even tweets and quotes in our reports, Chief Brown never shies away from using his platform to look out for at-risk youth and ensuring that his whole community is safe.

He also brought in our Police Training Institute team to train his officers on how to have safe, positive interactions with at-risk youth.

Chief Patrick Flannelly

Chief Patrick Flannelly, from Lafayette, Indiana, has been an essential member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids for years. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDPA) –– a federal law overseeing the treatment of juveniles –– has not been reauthorized in over a decade. But due to Chief Flannelly’s persistent advocacy to modernize the legislation so that it includes proven programs that reduce recidivism, Congress is closer than ever to finally reauthorizing this law. His advocacy on juvenile justice reform is the result of his firsthand experience after Tippecanoe County embraced alternatives to detention, such as Multisystemic Therapy (MST), that resulted in a significant drop in juvenile arrest records.

Chief Flannelly has shared the success in multiple forums on Capitol Hill, including official testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee. His commitment to advocating for evidence-based programs that reduce crime was profiled in Police Chief (a magazine produced by the International Association of Chiefs of Police). Chief Flannelly is also on the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids National Leadership Council and has helped build the membership in Indiana.

Chief David Moore

Chief David Moore, from Janesville, Wisconsin, has been a strong voice for evidence-based policies that support families and steer kids away from crime. Chief Moore has pushed for additional funding to support voluntary home visiting programs, which coach parents to provide safe, nurturing environments in a child’s earliest years.

When Congress failed to reauthorize the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program before it expired in 2017, Chief Moore sought out and participated in a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan to ensure the Speaker knew law enforcement leaders around the country saw home visiting as a key crime prevention tool. MIECHV was reauthorized in early 2018 for five years, ensuring thousands of families will continue to receive services. In addition, Chief Moore has served on the Fight Crime: Invest in Kids National Leadership Council and has helped build the membership in Wisconsin by connecting staff with the Wisconsin Police Executives Group and recruiting other chiefs.

Chief Susan Manheimer

Chief Susan Manheimer, from San Mateo, California, has been a Fight Crime: Invest in Kids member for over 17 years, most of which she has served as a member of the California Executive Committee.

Outside of California, Chief Manheimer is a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids National Leadership Council and served as the Chair of the Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Through her leadership in IACP, she was able to help secure a resolution, in coordination with several committees, noting law enforcement support for the importance of access, affordability and quality of early education and care programs to help kids lead productive lives. Additionally, Chief Manheimer recently urged other members of IACP leadership to contact congressional leaders noting the organization’s support and stressing the urgency to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) to prioritize alternatives to detention for youth offenders. JDDPA has still not been reauthorized but with bipartisan support in Congress, its closer to a full reauthorization that it has been in over a decade.

Chief Joseph Wirthman

Chief Joseph W. Wirthman, from Jefferson, Georgia, has been an instrumental member for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids in Georgia and across the country. As a leader with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, he helped pass a resolution from the association in support of programs and policies that steer kids away from crime and toward productive lives. He has also shared that message with Georgia policymakers, where he joined other Fight Crime: Invest In Kids members on state and national sign-on letters and met with policymakers at some of the highest levels of Georgia government.

Thank you to each of these members for your outstanding accomplishments over this past year to ensure more kids have access to evidence-based solutions that can steer them away from crime and towards productive lives.