News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Jon Collins, 612-919-5918

Sheriffs Office Receives National Terrorism Prevention

Award
October 18, 2016 (MINNEAPOLIS) The Hennepin County Sheriffs Office is proud to announce that it,
in partnership with the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments, was awarded the Outstanding
Achievement in the Prevention of Terrorism Award during a ceremony in San Diego on Sunday.
The award, given by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, was presented to Hennepin County
Sheriff Rich Stanek, members of the HCSO Community Engagement Team, and representatives from
MPD and SPPD by FBI Director James Comey during IACPs annual conference.
Its wonderful to receive recognition for our work, and Im especially pleased that our strategies for
outreach, as well as those from Minneapolis and St. Paul, will be shared through IACP with other local
law enforcement agencies, said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. But make no mistake, our work
in preventing terrorism in the U.S. is just beginning. It can no longer be a surprise that we have
radicalization and recruiting going on in our communities every day, as I have often said, It Can and
Does Happen Here.* The need for this work is more urgent than ever.
The Sheriffs Office submitted the joint agency application which highlighted the community engagement
efforts of all three agencies, which began in 2008. Preventing future threats has become a strategic
priority for all three agencies, and community engagement has become their front-line defense for
countering violent extremism.
Two awards, one to a U.S. and one to an international law enforcement agency, are given annually by
IACP to law enforcement agencies that demonstrate overall success in averting, stopping, or countering
terrorist activity.
The award was sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
- HCSO Photos attached. Additional photos and b-roll video of award ceremony are available upon request,
please contact Jon Collins at Jon.Collins@hennepin.us or 612-919-5918.
*It Can and Does Happen Here: Somali Youth with Terrorist Ties in the Twin Cities by Sheriff Stanek,
published in The Police Chief, February 2011.

Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

From left to right: St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, SPPD Sgt. Kill, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek,
Minneapolis Police Chief Jane Harteau, FBI Director James Comey, MPD Sgt. White, HCSO Lt.
Copeland, HCSO Julianne Ortman, HCSO Abdi Mohamed, HCSO Sgt. McDaniel.

Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, Minneapolis Police Chief Jane Harteau, FBI Director James Comey
and St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell prior to receiving the IACP Outstanding Achievement in the
Prevention of Terrorism Award.
Look for more news on the Hennepin County Sheriff's website at http://www.hennepinsheriff.org.