Suffolk County Police Detective Edwin Hugh and Police Officer Thomas Joy were among the recipients announced during the Seventh Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing ceremony in Washington D.C. on December 4.
This prestigious award recognizes law enforcement officers who demonstrate exceptional dedication to strengthening trust, promoting community engagement, and enhancing public safety.
The Attorney General’s Award recognizes individual state, local, and Tribal sworn officers, deputies, and troopers for exceptional efforts in community policing. The awarded individuals have demonstrated active engagement with the community in one of three areas: criminal investigations, field operations, or innovations in community policing. Twenty-one people were honored in those categories.
Hugh and Joy were honored in the Innovations in Community Policing category for strengthening the department’s relationship with the Asian-American community.
Ten years ago, the pair created a police fraternal nonprofit charity organization, the Suffolk County Police Asian Jade Society. The goal was to create an organization for Asian-American police officers to collaborate, serve as liaisons, encourage Asian-Americans to serve their community, and celebrate Asian American culture.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, community police officers including Joy and Hugh, transported people with no transportation and mobility problems to and from testing sites. They also provided meals and other personal comfort items to testing site staff, law enforcement and other essential workers to keep morale high.
Even though Suffolk County had very few incidents of hate crimes in the Asian-American community, when they occurred, Hugh and Joy made themselves available to the Asian-American community. Hugh and Joy became a liaison between the victims and the department and served as a support system to victims.
Joy, being a Recruitment Officer for the department and having made close ties with the community through the Asian Jade Society, was successful in making recruitment information more available to Asian-American communities. Those efforts doubled the number of Asian-American and Muslim-American officers.
“Suffolk County could not be more proud of our men and women who keep our communities safe, and the actions and dedication of Suffolk County Police Detective Edwin Hugh and Police Officer Thomas Joy perfectly exemplify the excellence of the Suffolk County law enforcement community,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said.
“The partnership between Detective Hugh and Officer Joy has benefitted the department and the Asian American community we serve,” said Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring, who attended the ceremony. “Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus now have a strong relationship with the department leading to a high level of access and confidence and I look forward to continuing to build on that foundation.”