The FBI’s Patricia M. Ferrick presents the Distinguished Community Leadership Award to Gary Jones, ADL Connecticut regional director.

The Anti-Defamation League’s Connecticut Regional Office (ADL) is the Connecticut recipient of the 2013 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA). The award was recently presented to Gary Jones, ADL’s Connecticut regional director, at a ceremony at the FBI’s New Haven office. A public presentation will take place in May at ADL’s 2014 Greater New Haven Torch of Liberty Award Reception.

“We are deeply honored that the FBI recognizes ADL as a leader in Connecticut’s fight against hate,” said Jones. “It shows that our friends at the FBI in Connecticut understand that our multifaceted approach to fighting bias and bigotry goes well above and beyond our work with law enforcement.”

The DCLA is presented annually to an individual or organization by each of the FBI’s 56 field offices. Established in 1990, the DCLA is designed to publicly recognize the achievements of recipients who have helped with crime prevention and educational programs within their communities and furthered the efforts of law enforcement.

ADL is the leading nongovernmental provider of law enforcement training in the United States. Through a partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ADL provides training for all new FBI agents that draws on lessons learned from the Holocaust and emphasizes the critical role law enforcement has in protecting minorities and preserving freedom and liberty.

In Connecticut, ADL works cooperatively with the FBI in protecting the safety and security of Jewish institutions. Last year alone, the Connecticut ADL office:

Alerted the FBI to the hacking of the websites of approximately 50 Reform synagogues across the United States by an international group of hackers;

Worked with the FBI and the Yale community in response to a threat of arson to the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale;

Worked with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Connecticut Intelligence Center to present at a Statewide Jewish Security Briefing for Jewish leaders.

“The Anti-Defamation League’s commitment to fostering interfaith and intergroup relations, and developing educational programs that support these missions, is exemplary and merits this award,” said Patricia M. Ferrick, FBI special agent in charge of the New Haven Field Office.

ADL advocates on behalf of individuals and communities that have been discriminated against based on their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The League reaches more than 20,000 students in Connecticut schools every year with anti-bias and anti-bullying education programs. ADL has drafted model legislation designed to reduce bullying in our schools, and has pioneered model hate crimes legislation that has been adopted in 45 states, including Connecticut. In the past seven years, ADL’s Connecticut Regional Office has organized two interfaith missions to Israel for Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders.

“While our mission of fighting hate is simple, our efforts to accomplish our mission are varied and complex,” said Jones. “Hate manifests itself in numerous ways, and as a result, ADL is constantly developing new approaches to combat it. The FBI’s New Haven Field Office is a wonderful partner in our daily efforts to make Connecticut a more understanding and accepting place. We are extremely appreciative that the FBI has bestowed its Distinguished Community Leadership Award upon ADL’s Connecticut office.”

ADL’s Connecticut office and North Texas/Oklahoma office, which also received the FBI’s 2013 DCLA in its region, are the six and seventh ADL regional offices to earn the FBI award. Past ADL award recipients include the Florida, Las Vegas, New Mexico, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., offices.