Former United States Vice President Joe Biden joined the Anti-Defamation League as the Guest of Honor at ADL’s inaugural Beau Biden SHIELD Award ceremony.
The awards, established this year by ADL’s Philadelphia Regional Office, honor law enforcement in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware for efforts in combating hate crimes, extremism, and terrorism, and for protecting civil rights. The awards are named for late Delaware Attorney General Joseph R. “Beau” Biden, III, hailed as an advocate for civil and human rights.
The inaugural ADL Beau Biden SHIELD Awards recognized 26 law enforcement professionals from agencies across the region. The awardees were chosen by a selection committee of top law enforcement officials from major federal, state, and local agencies.
The inaugural group of ADL Beau Biden SHIELD Award recipients includes the following
- Philadelphia Police Department, for the investigation and community response to alleged bias-motivated home invasions targeting the Chinese-American community:
- John Walker, Lieutenant, Philadelphia Police Department
- Richard Antonini, Detective, Philadelphia Police Department
- Craig Fife, Detective, Philadelphia Police Department
- Kert Wilson, Detective, Philadelphia Police Department
- Delaware State Police, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the investigation and community response to a series of arsons targeting churches in Delaware:
- Duane Freeman, Jr., Trooper, Delaware State Police
- Scott Weaver, Detective, Delaware State Police
- Robert Daddio, Detective, Delaware State Police
- Todd Ritchey, Detective, Delaware State Police
- Matthew Addonizio, Detective, Delaware State Police
- Alan Brown, Assistant State Fire Marshal, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal
- Michael Chionchio, , Assistant State Fire Marshal, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal
- Robert Brode, Deputy State Fire Marshal, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal
- Joshua Coulbourne, Deputy State Fire Marshal, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal
- Brian Schad, Deputy State Fire Marshal, Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal
- Victoria Richtol, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Chester County District Attorney’s Office, for the investigation and prosecution of senior administrators in the Coatesville Area School District:
- Joseph Walton, Detective, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Tom Ost-Prisco, Deputy District Attorney, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Andrea Cardamone, Assistant District Attorney, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Brian Burack, Assistant District Attorney, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Thomas Goggin, Detective Sergean, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Roy Calarese, Detective, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- Edward Nolan, Detective, Chester County District Attorney’s Office
- S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the investigation and prosecution of Christian Womack and Rashidah Brice for sex trafficking children by force, fraud or coercion.
- Michelle Morgan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office
- Melanie Babb Wilmoth, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office
- Michael Goodhue, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Jennifer Batish, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
ADL is a non-governmental organization in the United States training law enforcement on terrorism, extremism, and hate crimes. In the past 10 years, ADL has trained well over 100,000 federal, state, local and military law enforcement officers. To learn more about ADL’s work with law enforcement, visit www.adl.org/combating-hate/.
