Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott was recognized last week for her achievements as a female in law enforcement and politics.
She was among those to receive an Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Award from U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez during his fifth annual Women’s History Month event on March 15 at Bergen County Community College in Paramus.
Scott became the first female sheriff in Middlesex County and the first African-American sheriff in New Jersey when she was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2011.
She is credited for making improvements to the management of the sheriff’s office and undertaking the office’s first accreditation process. She has also made substantial changes to the personnel structure of the sheriff’s office and has implemented technology improvements.
Scott has hired 26 previously laid-off sheriff’s officers, saving the county more than $50,000, and has kept overtime expenses flat for three consecutive years, according to officials.
In 1968, Scott started her career as a sheriff’s officer after becoming one of the first females to graduate the county’s police academy. She worked her way up through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant and chief warrant officer until she was made chief sheriff officer in 1991, becoming the first female to serve as the highest law enforcement officer in Middlesex County.
Scott retired from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office in 1995 and was elected councilwoman at-large in Piscataway in 1996, serving through 2008. At the end of her term in Piscataway, she was elected as a Middlesex County freeholder. She is credited with saving tax dollars through a shared-service agreement with Monmouth County Youth Services, and with helping to overhaul the county emergency radio system.
The Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Awards were created in tribute to the senator’s late mother, who came to the United States from Cuba to give her children a better life.
This year’s ceremony also honored Lizette Delgado-Polanco, executive director of the Service Employees International Union N.J. State Council; Gisele DiNatale, cofounder and executive director of the Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation; Karin Elks, former senior political advisor to three U.S. senators and the current senior vice president of Optimus Partner; and U.S. Navy Capt. Jean O’Brien, commanding officer of Maritime Partnerships Program Detachment 205.