John T. Adams Honored by Crime Alert Berks County
On Wednesday, April 24 Crime Alert Berks County held its Annual Awards Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza, during which they honored District Attorney John T. Adams. Adams, the county's top law enforcement official, said he was overwhelmed and grateful to be honored with the group's Law Enforcement Officer of the year.
“I know that I'm receiving recognition today, but my office has done a great job,” Adams said from the podium after receiving the trophy from Rick Periandi, Crime Alert President. “Our goal is to keep our community safe, and we work hard to do that. I have a group of assistant district attorneys who have been relentless in the pursuit of justice. I have a group of detectives who are just outstanding.”
Adams said he distributes money annually to Crime Alert from his office's drug forfeiture fund — money from seized assets from drug dealers.
Under his leadership, his office has contributed more than $158,000 to Crime Alert since 2008.
The award was given to Adams the same day an article published by WITF, a public radio station, highlighted how Berks is the statewide leader in civil asset forfeitures and the potential for abuse under the state drug forfeiture law.
Adams pledged his office will continue to take assets of drug dealers and give those funds to organizations and agencies that help combat the scourge of drugs.
As an example, Adams said his office is contributing $100,000 this year to the Berks County Council on Chemical Abuse to assist drug-addicted individuals.
“We have a huge drug forfeiture fund because we've got a great group of detectives,” Adams said. “We're going to continue to kick in the doors of those people who are dealing drugs in our community. We're going to take the drugs. We're going to put them in jail. We're going to take their assets, and we're going to put it to good use.”
Redner’s Markets, Inc. received the Barry E. Rohrbach President's Award, named for the group's founder, for its long-standing support of the program.