Sierra Purden Awarded Criminal Justice Scholarship
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff // July 6, 2014
AWARDED TO STUDENTS ENTERING CRIMINAL JUSTICE
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — I would like to congratulate Sierra Purden, daughter of Commander Greg Purden of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Chief Renee Purden of the Melbourne Police Department, for being awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Florida Sheriff’s Association.
Sierra previously worked with the State Attorney’s Office Teen Court Program and was also a member of her varsity lacrosse team. Sierra has chosen to attend Eastern Florida State College to start her education in pursuit of her goal of becoming a prosecuting attorney.
The scholarship from the Florida Sheriff’s Association is awarded to 10 students annually who have chosen to follow their parents into the field of Criminal Justice.
Please join me in congratulating Sierra Purden on being awarded the scholarship from the Florida Sheriff’s Association and wish her well in achieving her future goals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft. That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions. Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection. Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.
