The RCPA William (Bill) Howe Award and Ray Lewis Awards
for Police Accountability
Bill Howe, 2008.
Photo by Terry Pierson for The Press-Enterprise.
These annual awards recognize one law enforcement officer and one community member for promoting police accountability work and for their commitment to the principles and implementation of police oversight. It is named for Bill Howe, the first Chair of the Community Police Review Commission and a retired police chief, whose dedication to accountabillity, oversight, and good police practices epitomizes the standards for this award, and for Ray Lewis, the founding co-Chair of the RCPA and a local civil rights activist.
These awards are offered annually and are announced at the RCPA annual public meeting (usually in February).
Any law enforcement officer or community member can be nominated (including but not limited to activists, scholars, police officers, elected officials, members of City committees and commissions, journalists, and attorneys).
The annual deadline for nominations is November 1st. The selection is made by the members of the RCPA.
Want to nominate someone for one of our awards? Contact us at [email protected].
BILL HOWE AWARD
2014, Lt. Alex Tortes (RPD and Riverside County Sheriff's Department) 2013, Lt. Valmont Graham (RPD) and Mary Shelton 2012, Leslie Braden 2010, Lt. Darryl Hurt and Lt. Tim Bacon (RPD) 2009, Chani Beeman 2008, Jim Ward |
RAY LEWIS AWARD
2014, John Brandriff |
Click here to read an article in The Press-Enterprise about our award.
2008
The Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability recognized Mr. Jim Ward with the William (Bill) Howe Award for Police Accountability on December 4, 2008.
This first-ever conferral of the annual Bill Howe Award took place at the ‘Celebrating Community Awards Breakfast’ organized by The Group. The award was created by the Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability to recognize a community member for promoting police accountability work and for their commitment to the principles and implementation of police oversight.
Mr. Ward is currently in his second term on the commission and has served since 2002. In their remarks, Co-Chairs, Deborah Wong and Michael Dunn said, “The RCPA recognizes Jim Ward for his principled long-term work on the Community Police Review Commission. As a member of the CPRC, Mr. Ward has consistently offered a much-needed community perspective. He has sometimes—or perhaps we should say often—been a minority voice but has neither given up nor stepped back from the table.”
One of the nominators for the award noted Mr. Ward’s “consistent courage” in his work for the Commission. RCPA Co-Chair Deborah Wong noted that he “has fearlessly represented community concerns at times when it was lonely work.”
Mr. Ward has lived in Riverside for 47 years. He worked for the State of California Department of Corrections as a corrections officer for 23 years. During that time, Jim was promoted to several positions including correctional officer, counselor, lieutenant, and captain. His duties and responsibilities were diverse and included personnel training officer, program administration and review of personnel training programs, staff supervision and training, conflict mediation and resolution, and designing, implementing, and assessment of departmental policies and procedures. Since retiring in 1985, Mr. Ward has devoted his time to his family and church, community service, and personal property investment and management.
RCPA Co-Chair Michael Dunn said, “Mr. Ward models the principles of accountability and oversight that this award represents. We are honored to have this opportunity to recognize Mr. Jim Ward for his outstanding work on the Community Police Review Commission.”