AAST Member Receives International Highway Safety Award

Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Bill Leeper, Troop "G" Jacksonville, recently received the prestigious International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) "J. Stannard Baker Award" recognizing his lifetime achievement in the field of traffic safety. The IACP's J. Stannard Baker Award is the highest and most prestigious individual award given for traffic safety by the IACP.

Leeper was recognized for over 32 years of work as an innovator and a leader in highway safety at the local, state and national levels during an October ceremony at the annual IACP Conference in Denver, Colorado. He becomes the first law enforcement officer in the state of Florida to receive the award.

The J. Stannard Baker Award annually recognizes individual lifetime contributions to highway safety. Law enforcement officers are selected for their sustained, continuous, career-spanning and innovative contributions to highway safety.

The award recipient is selected by the Highway Safety Committee of the IACP and is presented in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Northwestern University's Center for Public Policy.

Lieutenant Leeper has served as Troop G's Public Affairs Officer for the past 15 years and has spearheaded numerous traffic safety campaigns to educate motorists. He helped develop and serves as the chairman of the Nassau County Community Traffic Safety Team and is the president-elect of the Northeast Florida Safety Council. Leeper was named by the Florida Department of Transportation Campaign Safe & Sober as the State Traffic Officer of the Year for 1995-1996 and the Florida Law Enforcement Public Information Officers Association PIO of the Year for 2008. In August 2009, Leeper was recognized as a Grand Image Award winner by the Florida Public Relations Association for FHP's Battle of the Belts program he initiated in Nassau County.

"I worked closely with Bill in Public Affairs during my career with FHP, and observed the quality of his work first-hand," said AAST Executive Director Ken Howes. "I cannot think of a more deserving individual than Bill to receive this impressive national award," Howes added.

Leeper is a former city commissioner and two-term mayor of Fernandina Beach, Florida and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College of Missouri. He has been a loyal member of AAST since 2000.

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