The annual IJIS Institute Thomas J. O’Reilly Innovation Award, which was first presented in 2009, recognizes technical innovation that has significantly contributed to the advancement of information sharing and the IJIS Institute mission in major public sector domains.

This award is for team achievement between an industry partner(s) and one or more practitioner agencies.

In recognition of his immense contributions to the safety and justice community nationally, at the 2020 National Symposium, IJIS Executive Director, Ashwini Jarral, announced that future IJIS Institute innovation awards will be entitled the Thomas J. O’Reilly Innovation Award. Thomas O’Reilly dedicated over 45 years of his life to public service. His work included serving as Administrator for the NJ Department of Public Safety overseeing NJ State Police, Homeland Security and criminal prosecution, as well as Directing the Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) on behalf of the DOJ enabling fusion centers to share critical data post 9/11. Most recently he led the Center on Policing at Rutgers University. He was an invaluable member of the IJIS community, a staunch support of the IJIS mission, and an inspiration in solving community challenges, building mutually trusting relationships, and developing successful models for our country.

Winners of this award include:

• 2023 – Project Helio – The Digital-by-Default Strategy, Marin County Superior Court, Journal Technologies and Mission Critical Partners
• 2022 – NG9-1-1 i3 Location-Based Call Routing Project, Prince George’s County Maryland, Motorola Solutions and Mission Critical Partners
• 2021 – Strategic Decision Support Centers, Chicago Police Department/University of Chicago Crime Lab, Genetec, Microsoft, Shotspotter
• 2020 – B Link Indy, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• 2018 – Offenderwatch® Focus, Baltimore Police Department and Watch Systems, LLC
• 2017 – Project Green Light, Detroit (MI) Police Department and Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• 2016 – Internet of Public Safety Things, San Mateo (CA) Sheriff’s Office, Mutualink and Intel Corporation
• 2015 – MPD Aware, Washington (DC) Metropolitan Police Department, Microsoft, and Esri
• 2012 – Prescription Drug Monitoring Exchange, Open Networks Inc. and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
• 2011 – N-DEx – National Criminal Justice Information Sharing, FBI CJIS Division and Raytheon
• 2010 – Iowa Criminal Justice Information System Project, Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning and URL Integration
• 2009 – External Alarm Interface Exchange Project, City of Richmond, Department of Information Technology and Intergraph Corporation

Honorable Mentions:

• 2020 – Innovative Prosecution Solutions Social Media Evidence Initiative, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office
• 2018 – CloudGavel Streamlined Warrant Process, St. James Parish (LA) Sheriff’s Office and FusionStak, LLC
• 2017 – (1) Fairfax County Broadband Interoperability, Fairfax County VA and AT&T Government Solutions (2) Panic Button Pilot Program, SNOPAC 911 Emergency Communications and Rave Mobile Safety
• 2016 – RegJIN — Regional Justice Information Network (Portland Oregon Police Bureau and Versaterm)

• 2015 – FirstNet-in-Motion, Northern California Regional Intelligence Center and Mutualink and Large Emergency Event Digital Information Repository, LA County Sheriff’s Department and CitizenGlobal

• 2012 – Multi-Agency Video Sharing During Large Events (U.S. Park Police and SpectraRep, Inc.) and Indiana Department of Homeland Security Data Exchange (Indiana Department of Homeland Security and Crowe Horwath LLP)
• 2011 – ILJAOC – Integrated Law and Justice Agency for Orange County (Newport Beach Police Department and i2, Inc.) and MERGE – Regional Geographic Data Repository (County of Washington, VA and World View Solutions/King-Moore Inc.)
• 2010 – Mission-based Analysis of SAR Pilot – Analytical Tool Kit (Eastport Analytics and the Federal Air Marshals’ Service) and JUSTIS Project (Enlightened, Inc. and District of Columbia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council)
• 2009 – Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Vetting Tool (Bureau of Justice Assistance; Miami-Dade Police Department, Boston Regional Intelligence Center, Chicago Police Department; and Tetrus Consulting Group)