Submit VACP Award Nominations

TO: VACP Members

FROM: Chief (Ret) Douglas A. Goodman, VACP Awards Committee Chairman

The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police & Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2023 VACP Awards in the categories of Valor, Lifesaving and Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement. The nomination form and supporting materials must be returned to the VACP by June 12, 2023 in order to be considered for recognition in 2023.

The nomination form describes the criteria for the three separate categories of awards. Please read them carefully and make sure that the officer/s you wish to nominate fit the criteria AND you select the most appropriate award category for the nomination. In particular, the Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement Award is very unique and is not simply a “catch-all” category for anything that doesn’t fit the Valor or Lifesaving Award criteria. We recommend reviewing the recipients of past OCLE Awards (www.vachiefs.org/ocle_awards) to see the type of contribution that is worthy of recognition with this award.

Please be sure to include sufficient explanation in the supporting documentation to show that the actions of the officer(s) meet the criteria for the selected award. Nominations for the 2023 awards are open to ALL actions occurring prior to the June 12, 2023 deadline, so long as they have not been previously considered. In other words, eligible actions are NOT limited to just the past 12 months or the 2022 calendar year. 

To nominate your officer/s, submit a completed award nomination form along with no more than three pages of supporting documentation, including the description of the action and any letters of support. Supporting documentation must provide enough detail for the judges to make a determination without having to speculate. Press clips on their own may not be sufficient because details about an officer’s actions may have been excluded by either the reporter or the public information officer. NOTE: Nomination narratives will be used in an awards program and press releases. If any information is not for public release, please indicate that in the narrative.

The Awards Committee will review the nominations and award notices will be sent to the agency heads in late July/early August.

  • Recipients of Awards for Valor and Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement will be presented with their plaques at the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference in Norfolk on September 12, 2023.
     
  • Lifesaving Award recognitions will be presented to the agency heads for presentation to the officer at a departmental ceremony.

We hope you will consider nominating your officers for these recognitions. If you have any questions about the categories or criteria, please feel free to contact Chief (Ret) Doug Goodman, Awards Committee Chairman (douggoodmanjr@gmail.com) or VACP Communications Manager Erin Schrad (erin@vachiefs.org or 804-285-8227.

 

If you need a PDF or Word document version of this nomination form, you may download them here.
 

PDF 2023 Awards Nomination Letter & Form 
PDF 2023 Awards Nomination Letter & Form 

PDF 2023 Awards Nomination Form ONLY 
PDF 2023 Awards Nomination Form ONLY