2016 Award for Innovations in Community Oriented Policing

Sergeant Lesia Finney

This year’s Award for Innovations in Community Oriented Policing is presented to Sergeant Lesia Finney with the Wake Forest University Police Department.

As the Department's Community Police Coordinator, Sergeant Finney has been credited with singlehandedly enhancing the perception of the University Police Department by making Community Policing a part of everyone's responsibility. Sergeant Finney has implemented a successful Resource Officer Program, developed many new community engagement events such as "Coffee with a Cop" and "Doughnut Hour," incorporated a Community Policing Assessment aspect to new police officer hiring, and most importantly, she uses evaluation and assessment to ensure these programs remain effective.

The most telling aspect of Sergeant Finney's accomplishments was how many different campus stakeholders recommended her for this very award.