Hubert Williams Equal Justice and Effective Policing Award
This award from the National Policing Institute recognizes individuals within the policing profession (sworn or civilian) who champion fairness, equal justice, and the civil rights of all. Recipients will have worked to advance policing, justice, and/or public safety in ways that emphasize or prioritize:
- constitutional and civil rights,
- the perceptions, views, and roles of communities in safety or justice,
- promoted accountability within policing in ways that advance equal justice and/or
- addressed racial, ethnic, and other disparities or racism in any or all of its forms.
Criteria
The Hubert Williams Equal Justice and Effective Policing Award will be presented to a living individual within or having served in the policing profession in a sworn or civilian capacity. The individual may be actively employed or retired.
The award recognizes the leadership that the nominee has demonstrated. The selection of an individual awardee does not necessarily indicate that the actions or positions taken by that individual are consistent with the official position or views of the National Policing Institute. Instead, it is the dedication to making the profession more inclusive and integrating the communities they serve to ensure those communities are safe.
Nomination Process
The award is presented annually to one individual and may be based on a single significant action or decision or a series of actions or decisions.
The nomination period for the 2023 award has closed. Award winners will be announced in September.
The following items are required in the nomination form:
- Nominator contact information (self-nominations will be accepted, anonymous nominations will not be considered)
- Nominee contact information
- Narrative of why nominee should be considered for award and how they meet the award criteria. Specifically:
- Dedication to making the policing profession more inclusive and integrating the communities served as stakeholders in policing and safety.
- A champion of fairness, equal justice, and the civil rights of all in the community.
- Working to advance policing, justice, and/or public safety in ways that emphasize or prioritize constitutional and civil rights.
- Working to advance the incorporation of perceptions, views, and roles of communities in safety or justice.
- Promoted accountability within policing or justice organizations in ways that advance equal justice and/or addressed racial, ethnic, and other disparities or racism in any or all of its forms.
Additional items are optional and may be included in the nomination form:
- Agency executive letter of acknowledgement and support for nomination
- Links to supporting documents such as articles or reports
- Letters of support
- Resume, CV, or bio of nominee
Other information:
- Open to all law enforcement professionals, sworn or non-sworn, from federal, state, local, and tribal jurisdictions. Nominees may be active or retired.
- Individual must be living
- Individual must reside in the United States
Contact information for nominees must be provided, and NPI may share submission materials and related information publicly (less any private information).
Selection
Nominations will be presented to NPI's Board of Directors to facilitate Board selection of the awardee. The award will be presented at NPI’s annual Awards Reception held in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference.
The selection of an individual awardee does not necessarily indicate that the actions or positions taken by that individual are consistent with the official position or views of the National Policing Institute. Instead, it is the willingness and courage to lead change from within the profession that is recognized by this award. Any nominees not awarded may be resubmitted for consideration in the following selection cycle.
Award Presentation
The winner will be presented at an award reception held in conjunction with the IACP Annual Conference. The winner will receive a physical award plus a choice of one of the following:
- Travel support to the event
- $5,000 cash award
- Designation of the award to a charity of the winner’s choice
An individual does not need to be present to win, though preference is that they are present and NPI will assist with travel.

About Hubert Williams
Hubert Williams (1939 – 2020) was President of the Police Foundation (now National Policing Institute). A graduate of the FBI National Academy, he received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. He served as a Research Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice and as Deputy Special Advisor to the Los Angeles Police Commission (1992) after the April 1992 riots in response to the acquittal of four officers in the Rodney King beating. Mr. Williams succeeded former New York Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy as NPI’s President. In 1990, along with Murphy, Williams authored The Evolving Strategy of Police: A Minority View, a publication of the Department of Justice and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Executive Session on Policing Series. Under his leadership, NPI focused on work that connected police departments with communities to improve police service and public safety jointly. In addition, Williams was a crucial partner in the National Community Policing Consortium. During Mr. Williams’s tenure, NPI conducted studies and hosted conferences on various policing issues. Many of these are still relevant today, including using force, abuse of authority, gun ownership, balancing immigration enforcement with civil liberties, and other critical law-enforcement issues. In addition, he established the Center for the Study of Police and Civil Disorder and the Crime Mapping Laboratory.
A 30-year veteran of policing, Mr. Williams was one of the youngest police chiefs in the U.S. while serving as Police Director in Newark, New Jersey. As Commander of the largest police department in the State of New Jersey, he engaged the department in two groundbreaking studies pivotal to the evolution of community policing. The studies, the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment and Study on Reducing the Fear of Crime, were conducted during an incredibly volatile period, and the then Police Foundation published both.
Mr. Williams was the founding President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, a member of the Advisory Board of the RAND Corporation Drug Policy Research Center, a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the U.S. Delegation to the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, and a member of the National Criminal Justice Commission. In addition, he served as a director of Drug Strategies and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Among Mr. William’s academic contributions, he authored The Abuse of Police Authority: A National Study of Police Officers’ Attitudes (with David Weisburd, Rosann Greenspan, Edwin E. Hamilton, and Kellie Bryant). Many of Hubert’s articles appeared in the Bulletin of Narcotics, Crime and Delinquency, and Criminal Justice Ethics.