The evening of July 28, Members, Staff, and Guests attending the 2015 SEARCH Annual Meeting took a break to enjoy a reception at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Minneapolis – Park Place to recognize recipients of SEARCH’s annual awards:
- the O.J. Hawkins Award, a practitioner honor that went to longtime law enforcement and public safety leader Chief Harlin McEwen, and
- the Cooper Meritorious Service Award, a Membership honor that went to Major Timothy McGrail, a former SEARCH Member who retired this year as Director of the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
In addition, the SEARCH Chair recognized a number of SEARCH Members and Staff earlier in the day for years of service achieved in 2015.
During the three-day meeting July 28–30 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, SEARCH Members, Staff, and stakeholders from a variety of federal, state and local agencies and national organizations met to discuss a range of technical, operational and policy issues affecting justice information sharing. SEARCH Members also held elections for the Board of Directors.
SEARCH Chair Brad Truitt (right) presents SEARCH’s 2015 O.J. Hawkins Award to Chief Harlin McEwen (ret.), in recognition of the chief’s 6 decades of service and leadership.
SEARCH Chair Brad Truitt (left) presents SEARCH’s 2015 Cooper Meritorious Service Award to Major Tim McGrail (ret.), Missouri State Highway Patrol, in recognition of his leadership as a SEARCH Member.
Posing after the awards ceremony are (from left) SEARCH Chair Brad Truitt, Cooper Award honoree Major Tim McGrail (ret.), Hawkins award honoree Chief Harlin McEwen (ret.), and SEARCH Executive Director Scott Came.
SEARCH Member Dawn Peck (Idaho) and Major Tim McGrail (ret.) socialize prior to the awards ceremony.
SEARCH Member Capt. Ron Rivera (New Jersey) chats with Blake Godard, representing meeting sponsor 3M, and SEARCH Alternate Member Neil Gerstenberger (Georgia) at the awards reception.
Honoree Chief Harlin McEwen is joined at the award reception by Dr. Hugh Collins, SEARCH Member Emeritus, and SEARCH Member At Large David Steingraber.
Enjoying a chat before the first day of the SEARCH Annual Meeting are (from left) Clay Sato, Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center; SEARCH Member Liane Moriyama (Hawaii); SEARCH Member Oded Galili (Minnesota); and guest Tim McGrail.
The Minnesota State Patrol Color Guard presents the flag at the commencement of SEARCH’s 2015 Annual Meeting.
Mona Dohman, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, gives the host state welcome to SEARCH Members and other meeting attendees.
Kelly Harbitter, Director of Government Affairs for SEARCH, provides an update of the legislative activities of the new 114th Congress.
Becki Goggins, Director of Law and Policy for SEARCH, gives a report of the activities in her program area. She is joined in the Directors Report session by (from left) Information Sharing Program Directors Mark Perbix and Andrew Owen and High-Tech Crime Training Services Director Tim Lott.
SEARCH Executive Director Scott Came facilitates a panel discussion on federated identity and credential management at the SEARCH Annual Meeting on July 29. He is joined by (from left) Chief Harlin McEwen, Chair, FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee; Clay Sato, Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center; and SEARCH Member Mike Lesko (Texas).
Penny Harker, Chief of the Biometric Services Unit, FBI CJIS Division, discusses steps to prepare for implementing the FBI Next Generation Identification program at the state level.
George White, Information Security Officer, FBI CJIS Division, provides an overview of the requirements of providing CJIS information in a cloud environment.
Attendees listen to a presentation on Cyber Security from Jason Thomas, Manager of Innovation, Thomson Reuters Special Services (standing at left). Mr. Thomas discussed the illicit use and danger of a variety of Internet technologies, and ways to combat and mitigate the risks they pose.
Jenna Moll, Director of State Strategic Initiatives for the Coalition for Public Safety, discusses justice reform initiatives, including alternatives to incarceration and pretrial detention.