In Honor of Black History Month, Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred Scott Earns Law Enforcement Award

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Feb. 20, 2017 - PRLog -- The American Conference on Diversity will honor Middlesex County, NJ, Sheriff Mildred S. Scott with the 2017 Law Enforcement Ambassador Award on Thursday, April 6, during the 69^th Annual Humanitarian Awards Gala at the Pleasantdale Château in West Orange, NJ.

An exceptional leader and role model for all, Sheriff Scott was sworn in six years ago. In 1968, she started as one of the first females to graduate the county Police Academy to then be sworn in as Sheriff's Officer. She then became Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Chief Warrant Officer until she was made Chief Sheriff Officer in 1991 – the first female to serve as the highest law enforcement officer in Middlesex County. During her long career at the Sheriff's Department, she supervised all Sheriff's Officers, oversaw all courthouse security, instituted fingerprinting programs in schools, established a senior citizen home-security program, and coordinated prisoner transport services with 25 municipalities within Middlesex County.

Sheriff Scott retired from the Middlesex County Sheriff's Department in 1995. She was elected as Piscataway's Councilwoman in 1996 and served until 2008. In 2008, she was elected Middlesex County Freeholder, serving as the Chair of the Committee of Law and Public Safety from 2009 to 2010, until she assumed her current position as Sheriff. She was re-elected as Sheriff of Middlesex County for her third term in November 2016.

Sheriff Scott has made significant improvements to the management of the Sheriff's Office, including undertaking the first accreditation process in the history of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office. This review is a rigorous analysis of the organization's policies and procedures, which leads to the prestigious New Jersey Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Accreditation. Only 10 other Sheriff's Offices in New Jersey have achieved this prestigious designation. During her term, Sheriff Scott also made substantial changes to the personnel structure of the Sheriff's Office and has implemented major improvements in technology.

Sheriff Scott, a Gold Life Member of the Policeman's Benevolent Association, received the Perth Amboy Hall of Fame in 2008 and the NAACP Award for Outstanding Service. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Jewish Renaissance Foundation and has served on the Executive Board of the Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey. In 2013, Sheriff Scott was selected as the Middlesex County 200 Club Honoree. The Supreme Court appointed Sheriff Scott to the 2016-2018 Supreme Court Committee on Court Security.

The 2017 Humanitarian Awards is co-chaired by Grammy-Award winning music legend Dionne Warwick (2015 Humanitarian Award honoree) and Berkeley College Chair Kevin Luing (2016 Humanitarian Award honoree) and will be hosted by Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap. This evening of honors will recognize five other outstanding diversity and inclusion ambassadors:

► Randall L. Stephenson, Chairman & CEO of AT&T (Humanitarian of the Year), boldly tackles race inside and outside of the workplace.

► Cid Wilson, President & CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility – HACR (Diversity & Inclusion Champion), is a global trailblazer for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

► RWJBarnabas Health (Healthcare) is the most comprehensive healthcare delivery system in New Jersey with a service area covering five million people. The CEO of RWJBarnabas Health is Barry Ostrowsky.

► Dr. Pamela Thomas, Principal at OIC of America's, Career and Academic Development Institute (Bridge Builder), ischanging the lives of under-credited youth in Camden, NJ, and Philadelphia.

► Nicolas A. Ferroni, Union High School Teacher (Diversity in Education Champion Award), was named one of the most influential teachers in the country.

Proceeds from the Humanitarian Awards dinner will support the American Conference on Diversity's mission to build just and inclusive schools, workplaces, and communities through awareness, education, and advocacy. Our work to fight bias, bigotry, and injustice is needed now more than ever.

By uniting top executives and community leaders committed to this mission, the American Conference on Diversity aims to raise $300,000 to continue to provide diversity and inclusion services, including the signature Lead for Diversity (http://americanconferenceondiversity.org/lead-for-diversity/) Institute. The yearlong, life-changing program has impacted more than 3,300 high-school students since 1995 by providing leadership-development and human-relations training so youth can stand up to hate, educate their peers, and be better prepared to enter today's workplace.

Dinner sponsors include: ADP, Verizon, BASF, L'Oréal USA, Investors Bank, New Jersey Resources, NJM Insurance Company, PSEG, Genova Burns, PNC Bank, Prudential Financial, and RWJBarnabas Health.

In addition to networking, dining, and entertainment, this year's fundraiser will include a silent auction and prizes. The annual event will kick off with a stellar cocktail and networking reception at 6 p.m. at the spectacular Pleasantdale Château (757 Eagle Rock Avenue, West Orange, NJ 07052).

Seats are limited! To purchase tickets, become a sponsor, or make silent auction item donations, contact Gala Coordinator Barbara Getze at bgetze@aol.com or (800) 626-8097 today. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

About the American Conference on Diversity

The American Conference on Diversity is dedicated to building just and inclusive schools, workplaces, and communities through awareness, education, and advocacy. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1948 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Today the programs, services, and initiatives of the American Conference on Diversity are among the most important work focused on creating a more inclusive society. It is the unfinished business of living in a highly diverse nation: educating and empowering our next generation of leaders, enhancing our workplaces, and helping to create inclusive communities. Visit www.AmericanConferenceonDiversity.org to learn more.