The National Association of Emergency Management (NAEM) has awarded the Coconut Creek Police Department it's highly esteemed award of "The Most Unique Emergency Management Protocol in the Nation." The Director of the NAEM said that in all their years of reviewing EM protocols they never saw one that included instructions to issue stop sign tickets in the middle of emergency events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floodings, aircraft crashes, etc. The Director said that they were not making a value judgement on Coconut Creek's policy, only the fact that it is the most unique emergency management protocol that they have ever seen. The Director said that "most EM protocols are concerned with saving lives and then properties," and "most cities don't place officers at stop signs during critical events." The Coconut Creek city manager and police chief jointly accepted the award while praising their stop sign strategy as brilliant. The police chief said "as far as I know, no other department in the nation, maybe the world, places officers at street corners to write stop sign uniform traffic citations during critical events." He also added "we in Coconut Creek have our priorities."