Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano Receives "Community Impact Award" For Oversight Of Hope One Mobile Outreach Program
Published on May 24, 2019
Morris County Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano has been awarded the Community Impact Award by New Jersey Women in Law Enforcement, Inc., for her work on the groundbreaking Morris County Sheriff's Office Hope One mobile substance use recovery and resource vehicle.
From left, Morris County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Mark Spitzer, Sheriff's Office Corporal Erica Valvano, and Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon. Corporal Valvano received a Community Impact Award from the Women in Law Enforcement Inc., a professional association, for her work on the Sheriff's Office Hope One mobile substance use recovery and resource vehicle program.
Nominated for the honor by Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Corporal Valvano received the award May 24 at the professional organization's Annual Leadership Training Conference at Monmouth University, which she attended with nine of her female colleagues from the Morris County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Law Enforcement.
The conference's theme of Understanding Addiction focused on the ongoing opioid crisis, a subject Corporal Valvano has mastered by overseeing Hope One since its launch on April 3, 2017.
I am truly proud of Corporal Valvano, and the entire Hope One staff that includes a certified peer recovery specialist and a mental health clinician, for offering substance use services in a compassionate and stigma-free atmosphere, Sheriff Gannon said.
Ten female officers from the Morris County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Law Enforcement attended a Women In Law Enforcement training conference at Monmouth University on May 23. From left: Sheriff's Office Investigator Balkis Bernard, Officer Kayla Santos, Detective Lieutenant Denise Thornton, Officer Jessica Martins-Haskin, Investigator Ashley Craig, Corporal Erica Valvano, Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Undersheriff Mark Spitzer, Detective Lieutenant Kelley Zienowicz, Corporal Jen Franke-Parrillo, Officer Dianna Bustamante, and Officer Dana DelGrosso.
The 15th Annual Leadership Training Conference featured speakers who are in recovery, the perspective of law enforcement officers on the opioid crisis, a national certified peer recovery support specialist, and Tony Luke Jr., a grief recovery specialist and founder of #brownandwhite, who spoke on A Father's Loss after losing his son to an overdose.
Ten of 19 female officers in the Morris County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Law Enforcement attended the training conference and awards ceremony. Sheriff Gannon and Bureau of Law Enforcement Undersheriff Mark Spitzer traveled to Monmouth University to see Corporal Valvano receive the Community Impact Award.
I am proud to be part of an agency with 21 percent female officers, said Morris County Sheriff's Office Detective Lieutenant Denise Thornton, who oversees the Bureau of Law Enforcement's Support Services Division.
We work in all aspects of the agency such as courts, crime scene, process and community services. New Jersey Women in Law Enforcement puts on a great conference every year and we look forward to a day together training, bonding and networking with other female officers in the state, Detective Lt. Thornton said.
The award bestowed on Corporal Valvano was one of 11 given out to women in law enforcement based on various achievements. The Community Impact Award recognized Corporal Valvano for demonstrating devotion to community service as well as improving the conditions within a community, including contributions to non-profit organizations and volunteer efforts to community causes.
On its twice-weekly trips into communities where the need for substance use services has been documented, Hope One's staff has made more than 6,800 contacts with individuals in nearly 270 stops in Morris County since April 3, 2017, and trained at least 1,732 people in the use of the overdose-reversing antidote Narcan.
In addition to Corporal Valvano and Detective Lieutenant Thornton, the other conference attendees from the Bureau of Law Enforcement were Sheriff's Office Detective Lieutenant Kelley Zienowicz, Corporal Jen Franke-Parrillo, Sheriff's Investigators Balkis Bernard and Ashley Craig, and Sheriff's Officers Kayla Santos, Jessica Martins-Haskin, Dana DelGrosso and Dianna Bustamante.