The Cornell Police Department has earned statewide recognition for its proactive efforts to promote traffic safety by winning the Law Enforcement Challenge Excellence in Traffic Safety award. Cornell was chosen from among all New York state campus law-enforcement agencies.

"Our efforts at education and enforcement, particularly our reduction of personal injury accidents by 50 percent, our innovative public information program, and our 92 percent campus seat-belt usage are the key elements recognized by the awards committee," Cornell Police Chief Curtis Ostrander said.

Cornell Police Sgt. Chuck Howard accepted the award on behalf of his department from James Allen, executive director of the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, April 29, in Lake George. As winner of the New York Law Enforcement Challenge, the department moves to the next level, where it will compete with university police agencies nationwide. In 2007, Cornell Police won second place in the national competition.

The state and national law enforcement challenge competitions, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, recognize the best overall traffic safety programs among participating agencies. Winning safety programs combine officer training, public information and enforcement to reduce accidents and injuries.

For more information, visit http://www.theiacp.org/awards/NLEC/NLEC.htm.