Centenary campus police department wins statewide award
SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been chosen to receive the Organizational Ally of the Year Award by the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LaFASA). The award will be presented during LaFASA’s annual Denim Day awareness event in Baton Rouge on April 10.
Angela Henderson and Leone Fitzgerald of Project Celebration, a Shreveport non-profit dedicated to eliminating domestic violence through advocacy and outreach, nominated DPS for the award after working closely with the department on sexual assault awareness programs for several years. The award notice to Centenary police chief Eddie Walker noted that both Henderson and Fitzgerald “submitted glowing nominations highlighting the work that you and the department do to facilitate conversations, support survivors, and hold offenders accountable.”
Walker received the news of the award just as DPS kicked off its observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, including several events linked to national sexual assault awareness initiatives and a film screening presented in conjunction with Project Celebration.
DPS detective Heather Boucher has been leading Centenary’s year-round efforts related to sexual assault awareness and prevention. She regularly sets up individual meetings with athletic teams, fraternities and sororities, and other student organizations to ensure that all students understand what domestic violence and sexual assault are, how to avoid them, and what steps to take if they are a victim or know someone who has been a victim of any of these crimes. In 2017, Boucher was honored with the Trey Hutchison Award given by the Caddo/Bossier Domestic Violence Task Force, an award recognizing local law enforcement officers who champion justice for domestic violence victims and their families in Caddo and Bossier Parish and those whose work contributes significantly to domestic violence prevention.
“I’m honored to have been nominated and blown away to learn that we won this amazing award,” says Walker. “Detective Boucher’s hard work and determination made this happen. We have a special group representing the Centenary Department of Public Safety and I’m proud and honored to be a part of it.”