Rocky Mountain Division

Past Award Recipients

Early in 1982, a committee was formed by the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Division of the IAI to set up guidelines and criteria for making the Jay Jensen Memorial Award. 

Lt. Jay Jensen was a member of the Denver Police Department and a member of the International Association for Identification (IAI), for which he had been a member for several years. When the parent organization started chartering regional divisions, Jay thought that one for the Colorado-Wyoming area would be a good idea.

So in 1967 Jay started working towards a division for Colorado and Wyoming. He contacted all regional members of the IAI and set a meeting for January 26, 1967 to be held in Greeley, Colorado. This meeting was hosted by officers of the Greeley Police Department, who were also members of the IAI.

At this meeting it was decided that a local division of the IAI should be formed; officers were elected and application blanks were given to all present. At this meeting the first officers were elected: President - Lt. F. Albert, Greeley PD; Vice-President - Capt. Glenn Archer, Denver PD; Secretary - Sgt. Jay Jensen, Denver PD; Treasurer - Capt. A. Erosky, Jefferson CO. S.O.; Editor - Tech. Jimmy Ramsey, Denver PD; Board of Directors - G. Peterson, Lt. F. Moore, Sgt. D. Davenport, Asst Chief R. Watson, Off. R. McDonald. The organization was first called the Rocky Mountain Chapter, but when the charter arrived (July 27, 1967) it was discovered that the new organization was really the Rocky Mountain Division of the IAI. As all printed material was already printed with "Chapter" instead of "Division" an effort was made to keep the chapter title, but this could not be done, so it was necessary to change to the division status. 

As time passed, Jay R. Jensen continued serving the parent organization, working his way up and eventually serving as their President in 1971-1972. He also served the Rocky Mountain Division as an officer, holding many of the positions within the organization. 

Before the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was formed, the Denver Police Department was called upon to assist other police agencies in the area in many ways; much of the laboratory and fingerprint work was done by Jay Jensen. He also served both as a trainer and as an expert witness in many cases throughout the state of Colorado.

After Jay's death, the Board of Directors of the RMD felt that in recognition for all that Jay had done for the division and for the identification sciences, a memorial award should be given in his name to a member or members in good standing " for exceptional work in the field of the identification sciences or through , his, her, or their devoted, diligent work on behalf of the RMD-IAI, having greatly enhanced the image, integrity and morals of the organization as a whole and have thereby brought credit to the high goals and integrity of the identification sciences."

Jay's wife, Marian Jensen, was contacted and the award was explained to her as she was asked for permission and approval. Mrs. Jensen was very excited about the award and stated that she would like to present the first award to the recipient in 1983. 

At the Fall Conference held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Mrs. Jensen did present the award during the banquet. Mrs. Jensen did not know who was going to receive the award ahead of time, nor did the recipient. The award was presented to Mr. Jimmy C. Ramsey, a Certified Latent Print Examiner with the Lakewood Police Department Criminalistics Unit. Mr. Ramsey was a sworn officer with the Denver Police Department for 27 years prior to his employment at Lakewood. During that time he worked with Lt. Jensen in both the Identification Bureau and the Crime Laboratory. Many innovations were developed by the two officers and are still in use by the DPD and other police departments. 

Jimmy C. Ramsey, RMDIAI Editor 1992

THE SILENT WITNESS

Vol. 26, No. 4, Pg. 1,16,18,20;OCT-DEC, 1992

(Article edited by Webmaster)

Past Winners of the Jay Jensen Memorial Award

Name

Agency

Date

Award Nomination Process:

Sec. 14. The Jay Jensen Memorial Award will be presented to a member or members in good standing of the Rocky Mountain Division of the International Association for Identification for exceptional work in the field of the Identification Science or through his/her, or their devoted, diligent work on behalf of the RMD-IAI, have greatly enhanced the image, integrity, and moral of the organization as a whole and have thereby brought credit to the high goals and integrity of the Identification Sciences.

The award will only be given by the RMD-IAI at any Annual Conference, when there is a need to recognize an outstanding member or members for his/her, or their contribution and hard work.

The Board of Directors will make the selection of the award recipient(s) based on an evaluation of the contributions of the nominee(s) and recommendations received by the Board of Directors from any RMD-IAI member in good standing or any other person(s) having knowledge of the nominee or nominee(s) contributions.

Letters or recommendation must be received by the Board of Directors no later than sixty (60) days prior to any Annual Conference and should contain the name(s) of the nominee(s) and a list of his or her contributions. The selection of any nominee shall be the sole decision of the Board of Directors.