FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 24, 2014

CONTACT: Peter Van Delft
(617) 704-6682

SHERIFF TOMPKINS, DEPARTMENT RECOGNIZED BY MAYOR WALSH AT SUMMER JOBS APPRECIATION BREAKFAST

Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins with James Gallagher, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of John Hancock Financial Services.

City of Boston Mayor Martin Walsh recently recognized Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins and the Department for contributing to City efforts to provide Boston teens with jobs this past summer.

Held at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston’s Seaport District, Mayor Walsh’s Summer Jobs Appreciation Breakfast celebrated the many organizations and businesses that offered employment opportunities to roughly 10,000 young people over the course of the summer.

This year, Sheriff Tompkins launched his Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) for eleventh and twelfth grade high school students interested in the world of law enforcement. Along with participation in job shadowing internships and field trips every week, program participants received the opportunity to meet and speak with professionals from the world of law enforcement through agencies that included the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI); the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; the Boston Police Department; the Massachusetts Trial Courts; the Massachusetts State Police; and others. In its inaugural run, the SEP employed 20 teens from within the Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop and Revere communities of Suffolk County.

Speaking to the assembly about Sheriff Tompkins, Mayor Walsh touched upon some of the shared characteristics that have helped to fuel several collaborations between the offices they hold.

“Sheriff Tompkins is a great leader,” said Mayor Walsh. “What makes him great is that he truly cares about the people in his custody and he cares about the communities that they’re going to be coming back into. We’ve already worked collaboratively on a number of topics, including substance and alcohol abuse recovery and securing beds for those in need of mental health care, and I look forward continuing our work together.”

Also thanking Sheriff Tompkins for his contribution to the number of summer jobs available to teens was Chief of Health and Human Services for the City of Boston Felix Arroyo, Jr.

“I want to give special recognition to Sheriff Tompkins for the great work that he’s done since coming into office,” said Arroyo. “Along with the programs and services that he provides to the people in his facilities to help them to be successful when they leave, he has also reached out to our young people through the creation of his Summer Enrichment Program. Sheriff Tompkins employed 20 juniors and seniors while introducing them to the world of law enforcement, and we thank him for those efforts.”

Expressing his appreciation for the recognition, Sheriff Tompkins was quick to deflect praise while restating his commitment to the residents of Suffolk County.

“While I greatly appreciate the kind words that have been spoken today of myself and of the Department, I also have to applaud Mayor Walsh for his dedication to the young people of Boston through initiatives like his Summer Jobs Program,” said Sheriff Tompkins. “His commitment, and that of the other like–minded people in this room and across the City, can have a positive and lasting impact on what will be our future leaders who, in turn, will impact our neighborhoods and communities.”

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