Los Angeles: Ousted Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau, who remained on holidays in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Australia's Justine Damond, has won an award.

Ms Harteau was named the 2017 Woman Law Enforcement Executive of the Year on Thursday.

The former chief resigned after Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges announced less than a week after Ms Damond's death she had "lost confidence in the chief's ability to lead us further".

Ms Damond, a 40-year-old life coach originally from Sydney's northern beaches, called emergency services just before midnight on July 15 after she thought she heard a woman near her Minneapolis home being raped.