Morris County Sheriff's Office Hosts "Criminal Justice Day" For Team Eagle Foundation Youth Leadership Group
Published on August 15, 2019
Youth participants in the Leadership Excellence Direct Results (LEDR) program received an enlightening overview of how the Morris County Sheriff's Office protects the Morris County Courthouse, manages the Correctional Facility, and provides specialized K-9, Bomb Squad and Crime Scene Investigation Services to the county's 39 municipalities.
Morris County Sheriff's Office K-9 Section Detective Sergeant Aaron Tomasini demonstrates the skills of K-9 Sigmund to participants of a leadership program run by the Team Eagle Foundation and Boy Scouts of America Patriots' Path Council.
The Sheriff's Office “ along with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and Office of Emergency Management “ co-hosted Criminal Justice Day on Wednesday, August 14, for 28 participants of LEDR, a program of the non-profit Team Eagle Foundation that is partnered with the Boy Scouts of America, Patriots' Path Council.
LEDR is a week-long retreat program that gives students, ages 15 to 20, the chance to explore leadership skills, connect with peers, explore careers, and learn how to engage with their communities.
Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon welcomes participants of a leadership program run by Team Eagle Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America Patriots' Path Council to the Morris County Correctional Facility.
Criminal Justice Day for the LEDR group started at the 524-bed Morris County Correctional Facility in Morris Township. There, participants met Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and Bureau of Corrections Undersheriff Alan J. Robinson, and were guided on a tour of the 19-year-old facility by Bureau of Corrections Sergeant Andrew Bileci and Officer Brian Rzucidlo.
Sheriff Gannon welcomed the group with a summary of the office that encompassed its historic, 1700's origins, its array of special services, and its Correctional Facility programmatic approach to helping inmates improve and reshape their lives so they don't return to incarceration.
The jail's Hope Wing, for example, assists individuals with fighting their substance use addictions, teaches 84 coping skills, anger management and repairing familial relationships, among other topics.
Morris County Sheriff's Office Detective Corporal Phil Mangiafridda explains his job in the Crime Scene Investigation Unit to youth members of a leadership group run by Team Eagle Foundation in partnership with the Boy Scouts of America Patriots' Path Council.
Unless we're part of the solution we're part of the problem, Sheriff Gannon told the group.
We want to knock recidivism down. We don't want people coming back here. We don't want repeat customers, he said.
We will do everything in our power to return people to being productive members of society and keeping people alive, the Sheriff said.
Members of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office also gave an overview of their positions while gathered at the Correctional Facility before the LEDR group traveled to the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy for the afternoon.
At the Academy, LEDR participants met K-9 Sigmund and K-9 Handler, Morris County Sheriff's Office Detective Sergeant Aaron Tomasini, Bomb Squad Detective Sergeant Doug Meyer, Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Detective Corporal Phil Mangiafridda, Sheriff's Office Motor Squad Detective Corporal Dave Kenny and Corporal Pete Lohmus, and Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT) Corporals Jamie Rae and Matt Cilurso.
Morris County Office of Emergency Management Director Jeffrey Paul and OEM Assistant Erika Hauser gave the LEDR group hands-on explanations of their equipment and vehicles, including an imposing mobile ambulance that is used to treat multiple victims of incidences and transport them to hospitals.