Allentown NAACP to host 35th Annual “Tribute to a King” celebration on Monday, January 19th 2015

The Allentown Branch of the NAACP will hold its 35th Annual “Tribute to a King” celebration on Monday, January 19th at 11:00AM at the historic St. James A.M.E. Zion Church located at 4th and Union Streets in Allentown where the Reverend Thomas E. Sweatt is the Pastor.

The public is invited to attend. This year’s theme is “No Justice – No Peace”. The keynote speaker will be Allentown Police Chief, Dr. Joel F. Fitzgerald, Sr.

Dr. Joel Fitzgerald was appointed as Chief of Police of the City of Allentown Police Department by Mayor Ed Pawlowski in December 2013, and oversees the third largest police department in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In his 23rd year in law enforcement, the City of Allentown is his third urban department, having also served as Chief of Police in the City of Missouri City, Texas from 2009-2013, and in various ranks in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Police Department from 1992-2009.

Chief Fitzgerald led two police departments in two states to accreditation, and he has been instrumental in the emergence of both agencies as benchmarks for jurisdictions seeking to promote community problem solving, violent crime abatement, and procedural justice.

Joel is a 2010 winner of the NAACP President’s Award for success in Community Policing, and has received numerous honors for exceptional service, including over 17 official commendations, a Police Officer of the Year Award, and most recently honors from U.S. Congressmen Al Green [D-TX], the Texas State House of Representatives (Bill-HR 2121), and numerous government, community and charitable organizations.

As a lifelong proponent of higher education, he holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a specialization in Public Administration (Northcentral University), an M.B.A. in Executive Management (Eastern University), a B.A. in Liberal Arts (Villanova University), and serves on the International Association of Chiefs of Police Forensics Committee and the Northcentral University School of Business and Technology-Program Advisory Committee.

Chief Fitzgerald is a graduate of nationally recognized executive management programs including the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University, the FBI National Academy-Law Enforcement Executive Development Program, the Northwestern University-School of Police Staff and Command, and the Police Executive Research Forum.

The NAACP was founded in 1909 and is the oldest civil rights organization in the world.

For more information, contact Dan Bosket – Allentown NAACP at 610-780-9903.