In the past, a committee made recommendations for
the Award. Due to a death, medical issues, and retirements, the committee
ceased to function after 2005, and the award was not presented for two
years.
Rather than using committee recommendations, the WSATI
Southern Chapter Executive Board wanted all of the Southern Chapter members
involved in the decision making process for the Billy Osborn Memorial
Award. Nominations were requested from WSATI Southern Chapter
members for the 2007 Billy Osborn Memorial Award. The Award
was reinstituted in 2008, with the awarding of the 2007 Billy Osborn
Memorial Award.
If you did not know Billy, Billy was a long-time friend
of law enforcement while he was the manager of the State Farm Auto Theft
Unit. Billy was also a long-time member of the Southern Chapter of
WSATI. Billy was one of those people who you could always count on
when you needed something, whether it was something planned months in advance
or something that came up which needed immediate response. Quite
literally, Billy would find a vehicle for a bait car at a moment's notice,
or somehow locate $5,000 buy money late on a Friday afternoon...and he
would deliver them to you with a smile on his face. After Billy's
untimely death, the WSATI Southern Chapter memorialized him by establishing
an annual award to recognize an individual within the Southern Chapter
who showed the contribution and dedication to vehicle theft investigation
and the WSATI Southern Chapter that was so apparent by Billy.
To Learn More About Billy Osborn please
click here
The following people have been recognized by the Southern
Chapter membership and presented the Billy Osborn Memorial Award: |
