SEARCH News

The SEARCH Board of Directors is pleased to announce it has selected the 2021 and 2022 recipients of SEARCH’s highest honor: The O.J. Hawkins Award for Innovative Leadership and Outstanding Contributions in Criminal Justice Information Systems, Policy, and Statistics in the United States.

The honorees are:

• 2021: Alfred Blumstein, renowned criminologist and a Member of SEARCH for more than 35 years. In selecting Dr. Blumstein, the SEARCH Board of Directors cited the impact and significance of his work over the course of his remarkable 54-year career in understanding the nature of crime and criminality, technologies and policies influencing criminal justice operations, and groundbreaking research on redemption.

• 2022: Robert R. Belair, an internationally recognized data privacy expert who previously served as SEARCH General Counsel for more than 30 years. In selecting Mr. Belair, the SEARCH Board of Directors noted that in a career that spans nearly 5 decades, Mr. Belair has had a profound influence on the development of criminal history records policies and practices nationwide.

The Hawkins Award recognizes extraordinary leadership that improves the criminal justice community’s ability to develop and use criminal justice information. It is a prestigious honor that salutes a career of accomplishment and leadership. SEARCH is bestowing both 2021 and 2022 Hawkins Awards because it did not select awards last year. Our Announcements provide more detail of Dr. Blumstein’s and Mr. Belair’s specific contributions.

SEARCH will formally recognize Dr. Blumstein and Mr. Belair during an awards ceremony the evening of Tuesday, July 19, in conjunction with SEARCH’s 2022 Annual Meeting, being held at the Grand Hyatt Denver in Denver, CO.