A ceremony was conducted at the Mary Bethune Center on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City on January 26, 2010 to recognize those youth involved in the Jersey City Police Youth Academy. Attending the program was Hudson County Freeholder Jeffrey Dublin and Hudson County Sheriff Juan M. Perez. The assistance in this program was coordinated by Jersey City Police Detective Rudell Snelling who has served law enforcement for many years and possesses experience interacting with young people.
Sheriff Perez expressed appreciation for this program and stated “it is this type of activity in our communities that assists in getting the message to our young people that family, school and law enforcement are there for them on a daily basis to aid in maintaining them on a path to benefit them – there is absolutely no place in their young lives for drugs and violence.”