Birmingham, Alabama, Police Department Honors Verizon For Its Support Of Domestic Violence Awareness And Prevention

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Birmingham Police Department presented a Corporate Sponsorship Award to Verizon yesterday at the department’s annual Domestic Violence Prayer Breakfast. According to Sgt. James Jackson, supervisor of Birmingham’s Special Victim’s Unit, the award honors Verizon’s support of domestic violence awareness and prevention programs in Birmingham, Alabama.

“Verizon has provided tremendous support for several initiatives we are implementing at the Birmingham Police Department to reduce the incidence of domestic violence in Birmingham,” Sgt. Jackson said. “As a company, Verizon is truly committed to making a real difference in communities, and we felt they deserved special recognition for their work with domestic violence.”

Verizon champions the cause of domestic violence awareness and prevention through the company’s HopeLine^® program, a national recycling program that collects no-longer-used wireless devices and accessories to be refurbished and recycled and/or sold with all proceeds benefitting victims of domestic violence as well as through the Verizon Foundation.

A grant from the Verizon Foundation funded the Homicide Prevention Project announced this year by the Women’s Fund of Birmingham, Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ACADV), Jefferson County Coordinated Community Response, the Birmingham Police Department and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. The program includes training to help officers assess homicide risk at the scene, a fatality review program, and a new website for victims to locate resources. All the measures are aimed at preventing domestic violence-related homicides in Jefferson County. In addition to the Foundation grant, Verizon provided 50 HopeLine cell phones to the Birmingham Police Department to be used to connect victims with a domestic violence crisis worker on the scene of the assault.

Also this year, Verizon Wireless gave a $10,000 HopeLine grant to ACADV to support two initiatives for the Birmingham Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit. The money allowed the unit to purchase digital cameras to document domestic assault injuries and to create “stalker kits” to help victims document stalking offenses.

“We are extremely impressed with the collaboration happening in Birmingham between non-profits, social service agencies, law enforcement and the justice system, and we are proud to support this critically important work,” said Jonathan LeCompte, president – Georgia/Alabama region, Verizon Wireless.

Since HopeLine launched in October of 2001, Verizon has funded more than $14.2 million in cash grants for domestic violence organizations across the country and distributed more than 123,000 HopeLine phones with the equivalent of more than 406 million minutes.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves nearly 96 million retail customers, including 90.4 million retail postpaid customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 75,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

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