Each year, the Regional Victim Crisis Center holds the Men of Strength and Style Show fundraiser. The committee chooses two outstanding citizens to bestow two of their top honors for their part in helping our community and more importantly, the work they do to help victims of domestic violence.
Chief Stan Standridge was honored by receiving the Jay Hatcher award for 2020. Chief Standridge has been instrumental in helping victims of domestic abuse. In 2019 under Chief Standridge’s leadership, the Department began the Lethality Assessment Program designed to help victims who have been abused by their partner. He began with the Department in 1994. He served in Patrol and SWAT before being appointed Chief of Police in 2009. He is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Mississippi State University, holding a bachelor’s degree, and a Summa Cum Laude Graduate of Sam Houston State University, holding his master’s degree in Public Administration. He is a graduate of the Texas Leadership Command College, Class 59, The FBI National Academy, session 226 and the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar. Chief Standridge also served in the United States Air Force as a Security Specialist. He will succeed the current Texas Police Chief’s Association President in April 2020. In 2019, he received the Association’s Innovation Award, and he received the HERO Award from the Interested Citizen’s of Abilene North (I-CAN).
Melinda Beard was honored by receiving the Shirley Glandon Award for 2020. Melinda and her staff at the Abilene/Taylor County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) go above and beyond in helping families, and especially children, of domestic violence. Each year they handle hundreds of calls related to domestic abuse. Prior to her career at the CAC, she served in the Pregnant and Parenting Teens program at Abilene ISD, she was the Executive Director of Abilene Hope Haven, and was a Child Protective Services investigator for several years where she became a Forensic Interviewer. Melinda is the coordinator for the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), which is comprised of agency stakeholders involved in child abuse cases. She also serves as a member of the teaching faculty at the Child Advocacy Centers of Texas in Austin.
