Highest-ranking woman in NYPD among 6 for Heritage Awards
Published:Monday | November 27, 2023 | 12:06 AM
Tania Kinsella, the highest-ranking woman in the New York Police Department (NYPD), with the rank of first deputy police commissioner, is among six individuals who are to be presented with the Consul General’s Heritage Award on November 30 at the Jamaican Consulate’s Manhattan offices.
Other awards are Dr Trevor Dixon, head of Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans At Home (JAHJAH) Foundation, which undertakes medical missions to Jamaica; Dr Roy Streete, head of Overseas International Development; Valerie Bailey, attorney-at-law; Dr Camelia Lawrence; and journalist Lester Hinds.
First Deputy Police Commissioner Tania I. Kinsella, whose father is Jamaican, embarked on her distinguished law-enforcement career as a police officer in July 2003. Since then, she has made significant contributions across various precincts and bureaus within the NYPD.
In her current role as first deputy police commissioner, she is tasked with the oversight of industry-leading tactics, training initiatives, and a robust disciplinary system in order to foster professionalism and fairness among the 55,000-member police force.
Leading by example, Kinsella champions the values of integrity and accountability, ensuring that every member of the police department adheres to the highest standards of conduct. Her vision is to create a cohesive and responsible police department, one that upholds the principles of justice while maintaining the safety and security of New York City’s residents.
Kinsella’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in legal studies and an executive master’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Dixon is currently an attending physician at the Jacobi & North Central Bronx Health and Hospital Corporation of New York, director of emergency ultrasound and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Dixon has a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic ultrasound from SUNY Downstate and is also a registered diagnostic medical sonographer. He specialises in emergency medicine, for which he is board-certified, and has approximately 29 years experience in diagnostic medical ultrasound.
Visionary leadership
In 2007, he started his journey in giving back to Jamaica when he held the first Emergency Ultrasound Conference at the Kingston Public Hospital. He later founded the JAHJAH Foundation, a registered non-profit in New Jersey since 2011 and Jamaica in 2014. The organisation has grown tremendously under his visionary leadership. The JAHJAH Foundation has been successful in improving infrastructure in public hospitals and schools across the island. Over the years, the foundation has donated millions of dollars in medical, dental and educational supplies and equipment.
Collaborative initiative
Dixon conceptualised the Jamaica Emergency Medical Services Negril First Responder Pilot Project, a community-based ambulance service. The first ambulance has already landed in Jamaica and will be used to respond to emergencies once the service becomes operational. Dixon leads a team of more than 40 medical professionals from the United States to Jamaica for a one-week mission trip each year. During the mission, he spearheads a two-day Emergency Ultrasound and Critical Care workshop for physicians from public hospitals across the island. The ultrasound programme has significantly improved with the addition of the Jamaica Hand Held Ultrasound project, a collaborative initiative with the American Friends of Jamaica, Jamaica’s public hospitals and the Jacobi Medical Centre. The latest cutting-edge, handheld devices were donated to the pilot hospitals’ Accident & Emergency and Maternal & Fetal Medicine departments, along with ongoing training to support the physicians.
Dr Camelia Lawrence is a board-certified surgeon specialising in benign and malignant breast disease. She has fellowship training in advanced breast cancer surgery, including skin- and nipple-sparing mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy and oncoplastic techniques. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She completed her residency at New York Medical College and then entered her fellowship training in breast surgical oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California. She currently serves as director of breast surgery for the Hospital of Central Connecticut and Midstate Medical Center, responsible for helping to further develop their breast programme.
She serves as assistant professor of surgery at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where she works with medical students and surgical residents, nurturing her personal interest in teaching the future generation. She holds membership in the American College of Surgeons, the New England Surgical Society, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the American Society of Surgical Oncology. In 2023, Lawrence co-authored two books, Flat and Happy and The Mastectomy Planner with Katrin Van Dam.
Honours and awards
Commitment to public service has earned Lawrence numerous awards, including the 2020 Denise Taft Davidoff Empowerment Award for Mid-Fairfield County Dress for Success, the Dr Kenneth Woodard Memorial Award, Rush-Henrietta Rotary Club’s Dr Edwin Robinson Humanitarian Award, and the Carrie-Ann Smith Award. She was awarded the 2017 Doctor of Distinction Award for Fairfield County, the American Cancer Society Award for Women Leading the Way to Wellness, and the Susan G. Komen Inaugural More Than Pink Honor for her commitment to breast cancer care. More recently, she received the 100 Women of Color Award in Hartford and the Southern Connecticut Black Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year Award. She is the physician recipient of the Hartford Business Journal Connecticut’s Health Care Heroes Award 2021.
She advocates for women’s health, especially breast cancer care, in public-speaking engagements, TV interviews, articles and presentations.
Lawrence volunteers her time and knowledge to support numerous organisations throughout the state, including the board of directors for the Women’s Medical Association of Fairfield County, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, the Jamaican American Connection, and serves as a medical adviser to the CT DPH Breast and Cervical Cancer Board. In January 2023, she was elected president of Fairfield County Medical Association.