­ ORLANDO - The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice will hold its 35th Annual Conference and Training Institute in Orlando, at the DoubleTree Hotel – Entrance to Universal Studio, July 20 through 24, 2008. It is anticipated that over 600 individuals from around the country, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Jamaica will gather for this event. The conference is being hosted by our Central Florida Chapter.
     This five day Conference program will open with a Gospel Extravaganza featuring the legendary gospel singer Dottie Peoples. Tickets for this event is $10.00 per person at the door. Secretary Walter McNeil, Florida Department of Corrections is the keynote speaker for our opening session on Monday, July 21. Also, world-renowned recording artist and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, Wintley Phipps is the speaker for the Victoria Myers Luncheon Program that will be held on Tuesday, July 22.
     A host of other heads of state and federal criminal justice departments are anticipated to be in attendance to include, Gary Maynard, President of the American Correctional Association; Gwendolyn Chunn, Immediate Past President of the American Correctional Association; Jim Gondles, Executive Director of the American Correctional Association; William A. Dudley, Esq., retired Chief Deputy Secretary for the North Carolina Department of Correction; Harley Lappin, Director – Federal Bureau of Prisons; and a host of others. Our international list of dignitaries include Attorney Fitzgerald Hinds - former Minster of State in the Ministry of National Security, Trinidad and Tobago; Commissioner John Rougier - Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service, Trinidad and Tobago; Director Hilary Herman - Bordelais Correctional Facility, St. Lucia, and Eric Rodriquez - Superintendent of Prisons, Kingstown, St. Vincent.
     Participants will also have the chance to join in honoring the very best in our profession, through our Achievement Awards, Distinguished Service Awards, and our Scholarship presentations. Foremost, the Conference and Training Institute will provide numerous concurrent sessions targeting interest from leadership to management of offenders. Participants will leave the Conference inspired with new ideas and contacts, and with practical actions that they can apply in their profession. The topics each year are designed to provide participants with ideas and best practices that can be put to work immediately to help them in their career and organizational goals. The theme for this year’s conference is “NABCJ – Celebrating 35 Years of Criminal Justice Collaboration, Connections, Networking and Solutions.”   Recognizing the correlation between the increase in incarceration among the poor and people of color and criminal justice legislative policies that began to take place in the 1970s; we are now exploring some of the perhaps unintended consequences of the get tough initiatives in addition to examining whether the policies advanced us as a country or set up back. Registered conference participants will have the opportunity to garner professional training as it relates to the justice system, receive professional certifications and continuing education credits, as well as network, and be a part of History Making as we introduce our first magazine “NABCJ Justice Commentary.”   This Conference and Training Institute not only benefits the participants, but the employers as well, by enabling all participants to expand on their knowledge and experience and then to bring the skills that they learn back to their workplace.
     We appreciate our many Sponsors, especially the Keefe Group, who helped us to provide this outstanding learning and networking opportunity to so many.