FWC presents wildlife award to Colonel Julie Jones
News Release
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Media contact: Carol Pratt, 850-251-2212
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC), meeting in Apalachicola Wednesday, recognized
Julie L. Jones, former director of the FWC's Division of Law
Enforcement, as the 2009 recipient of the Louise Ireland Humphrey
Achievement Award.
The award, named after former Commissioner Louise
Ireland Humphrey of Tallahassee, is conveyed annually to an agency
employee who provides outstanding leadership or contributions in
managing the state's fish and wildlife resources.
"Julie was instrumental in gaining the Division of
Law Enforcement accreditation," said Col. Jim Brown, current
director of Law Enforcement. "And she was instrumental in
developing a national standard for waterborne response team
training, which is critical to our nation's homeland security."
Jones began working with the Game and Fresh Water
Fish Commission in 1982, first as a biologist on the Kissimmee
River Project, then as a law enforcement officer. She worked
in four of the state's five administrative regions before being
promoted to regional director in Lake City in 1997.
In August 2002, Col. Jones became the FWC's
director of the Division of Law Enforcement. She was
responsible for the division's 900 employees, 721 of whom were
sworn law enforcement officers, and oversaw an operating budget of
$104 million. She managed the largest resource enforcement
agency in the nation.
"When we appointed her director eight years ago,
the FWC broke glass ceilings," said Chairman Rodney Barreto. "She
was the first female statewide law enforcement director."
Jones' role in the Division of Law Enforcement's
attaining accreditation shows the agency's commitment to
professionalism and fulfilling its constitutionally mandated
mission of protecting Florida's fish and wildlife resources.
On Sept. 29, 2009, Jones was appointed executive director of the
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
"Receiving this award is the pinnacle of my
career," Jones said. "This frames my life thus far."
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