NOBLE NEWS ONLINE

Preventing just one child from being raped, bullied or otherwise victimized will make all the effort behind a statewide training and education conference worthwhile, says Delaware State University Chief of Police James Overton.

Overton is president of the Delaware chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, which for the last five years has held annual law enforcement training and public education seminars on topics torn from the headlines.

"We try to get subjects for our conferences that are timely, that are happening now ... in Delaware and across the country," he said.

"The first part of the day will be specifically for law enforcement folks," Delaware NOBLE Vice President Joseph Bryant Jr. said. "After lunch, we open it up to the public. We want people to come to this conference and listen to the experts."

Overton and others involved in planning this year's June 16 conference said the topic of "Protecting Our Children" was timely -- in light of Delaware news dominated by allegations that Lewes pediatrician Earl Bradley raped or sexually abused more than 100 of his young patients.

Child-on-child bullying -- including "cyber-bullying" -- is another timely issue that the chapter wanted to address, said Bryant, of the Delaware River and Bay Authority Police.

At no other time has the victimization of children been so extreme or so prominent in the United States, Overton said.

"Some of these things are preventable," he said, adding that parents, law enforcement officers, educators, child care providers and other professionals who are responsible for protecting children can learn from experts at the conference about warning signs and prevention.

The featured speaker will be Barbara Coloroso, an international speaker and consultant for nearly 40 years on bullying, conflict resolution and restorative justice who has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Today," and serves as a contributor to CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC. She also is an author and recently worked in Africa with grandparents raising grandchildren, including many whose parents were murdered.

While organizers stress the conference will not address specific criminal cases, it will feature a panel about prevention of child sexual assault and other victimization, Overton said, with speakers representing Delaware Family Court, the Delaware Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, other agencies and the law enforcement and education communities.

The moderator is a special source of pride for DSU, he said.

She is Dover native Cathleen Trigg Jones, a graduate of Dover High School and DSU and an Emmy-winning New York broadcaster who appeared in the Disney movie "Enchanted." The event also features awards for officers and students.

The Kenny Miles Award, created last year, will honor an officer from each Delaware county for outstanding service. It is named for a late Wilmington Police Department inspector who was a founder of the Delaware chapter of NOBLE. A student from each county will receive a $500 scholarship for college study of law enforcement.

Contact robin brown at 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com.

IF YOU GO

To register for the 1-4 p.m. public session of "Protecting Our Children," a training conference June 16 at Delaware State University's Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center in Dover, contact DSU administrative assistant Chandra Roberson, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at 857-6309 or croberson@desu.edu. Admission is free, but seating is limited.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To learn more about Delaware's chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, visit www.desu.edu/noble.

Reprinted with permission of The News Journal."