First Beau Biden awards to be announced tonight

Former Vice President Joe Biden will be the guest of honor at the inaugural Beau Biden SHIELD Award ceremony tonight at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.

The awards, established by the Anti Defamation League's Philadelphia office, honor law enforcement in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware for extraordinary efforts in combating hate crimes, extremism and terrorism, and for protecting civil rights. The awards are named for late Delaware Attorney General Joseph R. “Beau” Biden, III, hailed as a tireless advocate for civil and human rights.

“We are thrilled and humbled to welcome Vice President Joe Biden as the guest of honor at ADL’s inaugural Beau Biden Shield Awards,” said Nancy K. Baron-Baer, Philadelphia ADL Regional director. “Beau Biden was a champion for the most vulnerable among us, and these awards are a testament to his legacy. We are grateful that Vice President Biden will join us for this special event.”

The event will recognize 26 law enforcement professionals, chosen by a selection committee of top law enforcement officials from major federal, state and local agencies.

“Beau was honored to work side by side with law enforcement officers to protect those most in need of help,” said Hallie Biden, widow of Beau Biden. “We’re honored that an organization as important to Beau as the ADL is recognizing the work these officers do every day.”

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ADL is the foremost non-governmental organization in the United States training law enforcement on terrorism, extremism and hate crimes. In the past 10 years, ADL has trained well over 100,000 federal, state, local and military law enforcement officers.

Contact Alonzo Small at (302) 324-2856 or asmall@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @P_AlonzoSmall.